The Adalah Human Rights Center called on the Israeli Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, and the judicial advisor to the occupation government to stop the demolition operations in the eastern part of occupied Jerusalem and to invalidate the instructions issued by the minister, because they are illegal and he does not have the authority to issue such instructions.

In an urgent message, the Center warned of the consequences of continuing arbitrary demolitions, which constitute collective punishment in violation of Israeli and international law.

The letter sent by lawyer Suhad Bishara stated, “The Israeli minister’s instructions to demolish homes on allegations that they violate planning and building laws are illegal because they came from an entity that is not legally authorized to issue them and does not have the authority to do so, and it is an arbitrary policy that is not based on any legal basis.”

She stressed that these instructions fall under the category of collective punishment of Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem, and collective punishment is illegal.

The Judicial Center indicated that the timing of issuing these instructions and initiating the demolition operations confirms beyond a doubt that their motives are revenge due to what is happening in the region in recent days, and that they came in order to achieve political gain at the expense of the basic rights of civilians.

He stressed that “the unregulated construction in East Jerusalem is the result of a systematic and successive policy of the Israeli authorities since the occupation in 1967 and the illegal annexation that followed, which adopted racist policies against the Palestinians and prevented them from building as part of plans to restrict them and attempts to deport them and uproot them from their land and homes.”

The joint campaign of the occupation municipality in Jerusalem and the police continues to demolish “illegal” buildings in the Arab neighborhoods in the eastern part of the occupied city, which was announced by the extremist minister, “Ben Gvir,” following the commando operation in the “Neve Ya’akov” settlement last Friday.