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21-01-2022
SHEIKH JARRAH/ JERUSALEM: Israeli forces have destroyed the home of a Palestinian family in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem, days after the family tried to stave off the demolition by threatening to blow up the house.
Large numbers of Israeli police and Special Forces raided the Salhiyeh home and cordoned off the surrounding area at 3am (01:00 GMT) on Wednesday. The family told Al Jazeera that dozens of heavily armed forces broke into their home while they slept and assaulted family members, arresting six of them including the head of the household, Mahmoud Salhiyeh.
At least 18 other Palestinians who were present at the home in solidarity with the family were also arrested.
The demolition began at the dawn call to prayer at approximately 5am (03:00 GMT) during a rainstorm on one of the coldest nights of this year’s winter season. The family of 18 is now rendered homeless.
Israeli authorities have justified the demolition to build a special education school for the residents of the neighborhood.
Family member Yasmeen Salhiyeh, 19, said Israeli forces cut off the electricity to their home and fired tear gas canisters in and around the house. She told Al Jazeera that some 50 officers “raided the house and began beating up the men of the family, they also assaulted my aunt”.
“They pulled my father out of bed, beat him along with my brothers and cousins,” before arresting them “without giving them the chance to put clothes on”, she said.
Yasmeen added that Israeli forces fired rubber-coated bullets at activists and journalists who were attempting to reach the scene of the demolition, leading to several injuries.
Videos shared online showed an ambulance being blocked from reaching the site.
Jawad Siam, head of the Wadi Helweh Information Center monitoring group, arrived at the scene at about 3:30am (1:30 GMT). He told Al Jazeera that there were “about 200 police, border police, Yammam and special forces.”
Hours after the demolition ended and Israeli forces largely pulled out, the family and lawyers continue to have no information about the whereabouts of those arrested, said Yasmeen. (Al Jazeera)
