The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Demands The International Criminal Court to Immediately Open an Investigation on the Israeli Occupation Crimes Against Our People Specifically House Dem

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates condemns, in the strongest terms, the escalation of the occupation and its municipal staff in occupied Jerusalem, the demolition of installations and homes of Palestinian citizens, the most recent of which was the demolition of two houses under construction belonging to the family of Al-Zaatara in Jabal al-Mukabber, the demolition of another inhabited house on the pretext of not having a license, and the distribution of notices to demolish other six facilities. Yesterday, the occupation forces forced Mazen Jaabees to demolish his house with his own hands in Jabal Mukaber, not to mentions that the number of buildings and homes demolished by the occupation authorities after the Eid is more than ten.

The Ministry affirms that the demolition of Palestinian homes and installations is an extension of the open occupation war against occupied East Jerusalem and its surrounding, with the aim of perpetuating its annexation, by deepening ethnic cleansing and fighting the Palestinian national and humanitarian presence in Jerusalem, and at the same time replacing Jewish settlers with it and changing the features and identity of the Holy City by force, and working to imposing it as a status que.

The demolition of homes and facilities is a crime in the full meaning of the word in accordance to the Geneva Conventions and international law, and a flagrant violation of United Nations resolutions that affirm that Jerusalem is an integral part of the Palestinian territory occupied in 1967, and it is the capital of the State of Palestine. The Ministry continues to keep an eye on the facts and details of these crimes at all levels, including the International Criminal Court. The Ministry calls on the international community to condemn the policy of house demolitions and calls on the International Criminal Court to expedite the completion of its studies and immediately  open an official investigation into this crime and other crimes committed by the occupying power against our people, land, sanctities, property, and foundations of their basic life.