23 Feb 2021; MEMO: Israeli occupation bulldozers yesterday demolished the house of chief guard of Al-Aqsa Mosque Fadi Aliyan in the village of Al-Issawiya in occupied Jerusalem, news agencies reported.
The Aliyan family said that the Israeli occupation had notified them of its intention to demolish their home at the end of February.
The family said that it had lost a legal battle to stop the demolition, adding that an Israeli court refused their lawyer's petition one week ago.
According to the family, the house was built about ten years ago. The Israeli occupation authorities imposed high fines on the family before issuing a demolition order against it under the pretext that it was an "unlicensed construction".
The two-story house, which is made up of four apartments, accommodates 17 people – most of them women and children.
A restrictive planning regime applied by Israeli authorities makes it almost impossible for Palestinians to obtain building permits in occupied East Jerusalem, impeding the development of adequate housing, infrastructure and livelihoods.
