SILWAN, EAST JERUSALEM — Fakhri Abu Diab, 62, has lived on the same family property in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan his entire life. Two years ago Israeli authorities demolished the house where he was born, citing lack of building permits. He and his wife now sleep in a small trailer amid the rubble and say they have received a fresh eviction notice from the Jerusalem municipality.
Residents and human rights advocates describe Abu Diab’s situation as part of a wider campaign they say is displacing hundreds of Palestinian families in Silwan to make room for Israeli settlers, religious and archaeological projects. Silwan, a densely populated area just south of Jerusalem’s Old City walls, is home to roughly 20,000 Palestinians and has become a focal point in the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Advocates explain that many Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem predate 1967 but were later expanded; those additions are frequently deemed illegal because Palestinians face severe obstacles obtaining building permits from municipal authorities. Human Rights Watch and local groups say these permitting barriers push residents to build without authorization and leave them vulnerable to demolition orders.
Abu Diab is an activist who has spent years resisting demolitions. He says municipal officials justify removals by claiming homes lack permits, while the land is then repurposed for settler needs such as parking, parks and gated housing.
Israeli human rights group B’Tselem and several U.N. human rights experts have accused Israel of practices amounting to ethnic cleansing in parts of East Jerusalem and the West Bank, saying efforts to remove Palestinians from neighborhoods like Silwan have intensified. B’Tselem has documented a sharp rise in demolitions in the al-Bustan area of Silwan: it reports that 48 homes there have been demolished since 2023 and says about 1,450 people now face expulsion. B’Tselem’s international outreach director calls the process “Judaization” and describes the legal and administrative system used to enforce it as discriminatory.
Israeli officials and settler leaders reject those claims. Arieh King, a Jerusalem deputy mayor and prominent settler movement figure, characterizes the removals as lawful actions to recover property he says was purchased by Jews in earlier periods and contests the accusations of ethnic cleansing.
The political context has shifted in recent years. Activists and analysts say the pace of settlement and related municipal steps accelerated under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition, which includes ministers aligned with the settler movement.
Advocates point to a range of tools used to change the neighborhood’s character: prolonged court battles, zoning and planning rules that limit Palestinian construction, strict enforcement of building regulations, and targeted demolition orders. They also highlight archaeology and heritage initiatives as a mechanism to bolster settler claims. The City of David National Park, an archaeological site and tourist attraction in the heart of Silwan, is cited by critics as advancing a particular Jewish historical narrative that bolsters contemporary claims to the land.
Yonatan Mizrachi, an Israeli archaeologist who monitors developments with the group Peace Now, says excavations and the interpretive framing of finds are used politically: they can be presented as evidence of an ancient Jewish presence and thereby strengthen arguments for settler expansion. The park draws school groups and tourists; a plaque there commemorates a U.S. ambassador’s visit and frames the site as central to biblical history.
Daily life for residents under demolition orders can be harrowing. Omar Abu Rajab, 60, described stripping down parts of his own home after receiving a municipal order that gave him two months to vacate. Unable to pay for an official demolition, he and relatives have begun tearing the building down themselves while trying to keep living space safe for children. He says he has nowhere else to go and vows to remain in Silwan.
Others report similar pressure: recent orders target seven apartments housing more than 50 people from a single extended family, including many children, who have been given until the end of the month to leave before their homes are demolished.
The legal and diplomatic backdrop remains contested. In 2024 the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion finding that Israel’s presence in the West Bank and East Jerusalem is unlawful; Israel disputes that finding and treats East Jerusalem as part of its capital. Human rights groups say international attention has waned as other conflicts have dominated global headlines, allowing demolitions and evictions to proceed with less scrutiny.
For residents like Abu Diab and Abu Rajab, the situation is immediate and personal: demolished walls, lost memories and mounting uncertainty about where to live next. “We have complained to the whole world,” one resident said, describing a sense of helplessness. Activists and international observers continue to call for greater scrutiny and legal protections for Palestinian residents in East Jerusalem.