Thousands Demonstrate against House Demolitions in Sakhnin

Thousands demonstrated on Tuesday evening, July 24, against house demolitions in the Arab municipality of Sakhnin in northern Israel. The day before, authorities demolished a home there while injuring two residents protesting the demolition.

According to Al-Ittihad, the daily Arabic-language newspaper of the Communist Party of Israel, on Monday morning dozens of police officers assaulted residents of Sakhnin, who attempted to prevent the demolition of the targeted house. During the police attack a 28-year-old Palestinian man was seriously injured in the chest and a 60-year-old Palestinian woman also incurred serious injuries in the upper part of her body. The two were immediately taken to the Rambam Medical Center in Haifa where they were placed in intensive care.

Demonstrators protest house demolitions in Sakhnin, Tuesday evening, July 24.

Demonstrators protest house demolitions in Sakhnin, Tuesday evening, July 24. (Photo: Al Ittihad)

The Municipality of Sakhnin released an official statement in which it condemned the demolition of the Palestinian-owned home by Israeli authorities in Sakhnin on Monday and called for a general strike in the city on Tuesday.

Mayor Mazen Ghanaim said that the demolished home belonged to Palestinian resident Hussein Osman, and condemned the unjust demolition as the beginning of the actual implementation of the discriminatory “Nation-State” law passed by the Knesset last week. Ghanaim explained that, instead of seeking to solve the housing crisis in the Arab communities, Israel is trying to speed up the process of expanding illegal Israeli settlements, increasing the suffering of Palestinian residents.

Ghanaim added that the Municipality of Sakhnin tried all possible means to find a legal solution to avoid the demolition of the Palestinian home, including contacting the office of the President of Israel, but to no avail.