Israel accelerates demolitions and evictions in east Jerusalem, displacing Palestinians

Israeli authorities demolished more than 260 homes and structures in east Jerusalem in 2025, a 70% increase from three years earlier, according to Ir Amim, an Israeli anti-settlement monitoring group. The demolitions are concentrated in Silwan, a district of roughly 20,000 Palestinians located just outside the Old City walls near the al-Aqsa Mosque compound — the third holiest site in Islam and, as the Temple Mount, the holiest in Judaism. In the al-Bustan sub-neighborhood, 59 properties have been destroyed since late 2023, with some 1,500 residents facing potential demolition orders; the Jerusalem Municipality says the area will become a public park, but residents say alternative planning proposals were rejected. In the adjacent Batan al-Hawah area, Israeli courts have ruled in favor of settler organizations reclaiming properties owned by Jews before 1948, forcing out Palestinian families who have lived there for generations — a process critics describe as state-backed demographic replacement. Palestinians make up roughly 40% of Jerusalem's population but received fewer than 700 of the nearly 9,000 housing permits approved in the city last year, according to Israeli rights group Bimkom. Rights organizations including B'Tselem and Ir Amim say the acceleration reflects reduced U.S. diplomatic pressure and a government with no restraints, while Israeli officials maintain that courts rule on individual legal merits and that residents are treated equally under law. The European Union has called the situation in Silwan 'dire,' and the U.S. State Department said it expects Israeli authorities to respect due process.