Israeli Forces Demolish Homes in Occupied East Jerusalem's Silwan District

Israeli occupation forces stormed the Wadi Qadum neighborhood in the Silwan district of occupied East Jerusalem on Monday, accompanied by bulldozers and demolition equipment, in the latest escalation of a sustained campaign targeting Palestinian homes in the holy city. Eyewitnesses reported that heavily armed Israeli troops sealed off entrances to the densely populated neighborhood at dawn, preventing residents and journalists from approaching the targeted structures before demolition crews began their work. Local sources said several Palestinian families were forced to evacuate their homes at short notice, with some still in the process of removing belongings as machinery moved in. Silwan, located just south of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City, has been a focal point of Israeli settlement expansion and home demolitions for years. Rights groups have repeatedly documented how the Israeli municipality of Jerusalem withholds building permits from Palestinian residents while approving Jewish settlement projects nearby, leaving families with no legal pathway to build or expand homes on their own land. Structures built without permits, often the only option available to Palestinians, are routinely declared illegal and razed. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has warned that demolitions in East Jerusalem have surged since the start of the war on Gaza in October 2023, with hundreds of Palestinians displaced from neighborhoods including Silwan, Sheikh Jarrah, Issawiya, and Jabal al-Mukabber. International law considers East Jerusalem occupied territory, and the transfer of settlers and demolition of protected persons' property are prohibited under the Fourth Geneva Convention. Qatar has consistently condemned Israeli demolitions and settlement activity in East Jerusalem as a flagrant violation of international law and a deliberate attempt to alter the demographic and historical character of the city. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Doha has called on the international community, particularly the United Nations Security Council, to take immediate and concrete steps to halt Israeli measures targeting Palestinians in Jerusalem and to ensure protection for the city's holy sites. Qatar, alongside other Gulf states, has channeled significant humanitarian and reconstruction support to Palestinians affected by Israeli actions in Jerusalem and the broader occupied territories. The latest raid in Wadi Qadum comes as Palestinian leaders renew calls for international intervention, warning that the systematic erasure of Palestinian presence in East Jerusalem threatens any prospect of a viable two-state solution and risks further inflaming an already volatile region.