Jerusalem/PNN

A Palestinian family was Saturday forced to demolish its own house in the town of al-Issawiya, an Arab neighborhood in Jerusalem, after the Israeli municipality of West Jerusalem threatened to demolish the house under the pretext it was built without an Israeli-issued permit, WAFFA reports.

Member of the follow up committee in al-Issawiya, Ra’ed Abu Ryaleh, told WAFA the family of Mohammad Ali Nasser ‘Aasi opted to demolish its own home to avoid paying the heavy costs if the municipality would have had to demolish it.

The family received a demolition order for their house last month. The house was built back in 2008 and consisted of two rooms and a kitchen.

Abu Riyala said that two more families were given similar notices by the Israeli municipality.

Palestinians, according to international and Israeli organizations, are forced to build on their property in East Jerusalem without permits because the Israeli municipality does not provide them with these in an effort to keep the Palestinian population in the occupied city to a minimum. At the same time there has been an increase in the Jewish population in East Jerusalem due to thousands of newly build Israeli-only housing units in many of the illegal settlements in and around Jerusalem.