JERUSALEM

Israeli forces demolished a Palestinian house at the center of an anti-expulsion campaign in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem on Wednesday, according to Israeli police and local residents.

Israeli police went to the home of the Salhiyeh family before dawn and assaulted a number of its occupants, Walid Tayeh, the family’s lawyer, told Anadolu Agency.

“Israeli forces demolished the house after evacuating it,” Tayeh said, adding that around 20 people, including the homeowner, were arrested.

Israeli police said in a statement that it enforced a court-approved eviction order of what it called “illegal buildings built on grounds designated for a school.”

The house has been the center of an anti-expulsion campaign since 2017, when Israeli municipal authorities allocated the land of the house to build a school.

The Salhiyeh family says they have been living in the home since 1948 after they were expelled from the Ein Karen neighborhood of West Jerusalem.

Condemnations

Israeli member of Knesset Mossi Raz slammed the demolition of the Salhiyeh family's home.

"I am ashamed to write that like thieves in the night the Israeli forces arrived to expel the Salhiyeh family onto the freezing street," Raz tweeted.

“This is what the Palestinian life in East Jerusalem looks like," he added.

The British Consulate, which is located close to the home, condemned the eviction as “against international humanitarian law in all but the most exceptional circumstances.”

* Writing by Ahmed Asmar​​​​​​​