Settlers Submit Request to Occupation Authorities to Demolish a House in Sheikh Jarrah

SadaNews - The Jerusalem Governorate stated that settlers have submitted a request to the Israeli occupation authorities to demolish the house of the Sahou family in the Um Haroun neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, in the center of Jerusalem, and to replace it with a new building containing three colonial units.

The governorate reported in a statement issued today, Wednesday, that the settlers who submitted the demolition request are linked to an American company registered under the name "Debrali Inc" on August 7, 2025.

It explained that this attempt represents a serious precedent, as it is the first time that the pretext of "urban renewal" has been used to circumvent the legal protection provided by the "protected tenant" status, enabling colonizers to practically evict the family without their right to prevent the eviction or halt the execution.

The governorate added that the Sahou family built their house before 1967 on land rented from the "Jordanian custodian", and that the occupation authorities registered ownership of the land in 2006 in the name of "Debrali Inc", which is registered in the state of Delaware in the U.S. and linked to colonizer "Chaim Silberstein". It clarified that this procedure is part of a discriminatory legal framework that allows colonizers to claim properties they assert ownership of before 1948 in East Jerusalem, while thousands of Palestinian families are deprived of recovering their properties within the 48 territories.

It pointed out that the plan to demolish the Sahou family's house and replace it with a larger building, registered under number (TPS14151), had received initial approvals in 2019, and that its reactivation at this time occurred amidst the world's preoccupation with the genocide against the Palestinian people since October 2023.

The governorate clarified that the so-called occupation district committee re-published last week a modified plan to establish a Jewish school in Sheikh Jarrah, and the committee also submitted a plan to build 659 colonial units in Um Tuba, noting that the project aims to isolate Palestinian neighborhoods and create a series of isolated enclaves through infrastructure and transportation projects that seize land.

The Jerusalem Governorate warned of the continued occupation and its settler militias in their systematic policy of Judaizing the city, holding the Israeli government fully responsible for the crimes against Jerusalemites and their properties, and reiterating its support for the steadfastness of Jerusalem families and its ongoing coordination with Jordan to protect historical rights, calling on the international community to take legal and political action to stop these plans and protect the Palestinian Arab identity of Jerusalem.