Khaberni - A sudden partial collapse of Palestinian homes in the town of Silwan in occupied Jerusalem led to the evacuation of three Jerusalemite families.
The Jerusalem Governorate said in a statement that three families from the Abu Sabih family had to evacuate their homes in the al-Ain al-Foqa area of Silwan, south of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, this morning following a sudden collapse that caused a room inside one of the adjoining homes to fall, posing a direct threat to the safety of the residents.
It added that the collapse occurred after a retaining wall collapsed yesterday, which had been a known danger. The locals had repeatedly informed the occupation municipality of the urgent need for intervention, but it refrained from taking any preventive measures to prevent further collapses or to ensure the safety of the citizens.
The governorate's statement quoted citizen Fawaz Abu Sabih saying that the family had filed several official complaints to the occupation municipality regarding severe cracks in the walls of their home, caused by the Israeli excavations underneath and around their homes.
He added that the effects of these excavations had greatly worsened with the recent weather depression, accelerating the collapse and pointing out that "despite the dangerous situation, the municipality did not intervene."
Abu Sabih said that the occupation authorities prevent citizens from carrying out maintenance or digging to reinforce the foundations of their buildings.
The Jerusalem Governorate in its statement confirmed that the collapses in Silwan are part of a systematic forced displacement policy based on dangerous colonial excavations and the deliberate neglect of their consequences on the homes of Jerusalemites, opposite to preventing Jerusalemite families from repairing their homes or enhancing their safety.
In a previous interview with Al Jazeera Net, Fakhri Abu Diab, a member of the Committee for the Defense of Silwan Land, said that 128 homes in the town of Silwan are threatened with collapse due to the Israeli excavations.
