On May 8, Israeli forces carried out an order handed down by the Israeli district court in Jerusalem authorizing the demolition of a special needs home for disabled children in the East Jerusalem district of Wadi Al Joz. The court, which issued its final verdict in April, claims the Ayat Association for Special Needs Children was built without the proper construction license and is therefore “illegal.”

Nevertheless, one day following the demolition, the Israeli government approved the construction of three new illegal ultra-orthodox Jewish neighborhoods in the eastern sector of the city.

According to a press release issued by the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, Israeli police and border guards arrived at the home at 5:30 a.m. After the caretakers and children were awoken and police forcibly removed two of the children, caretakers evacuated the remaining students outside before the building was demolished. The home also doubled as a school and an activity center for children with special needs in the city.

Before it was demolished, the center hosted children for a two-week stay and was also an afternoon daycare center. The center worked under the umbrella Palestinian NGO Al Nujum (Stars) that works with handicapped Palestinian children.

Israel makes it extremely difficult for Palestinians to obtain building licenses in East Jerusalem, which forces many to build homes “illegally” in order to accommodate growing families. Even when the rare license is granted, it is not without long delays and tremendous financial expenses. Local human rights organizations in Jerusalem have estimated that Israeli authorities have demolished some 48 Palestinian-owned homes and buildings in the city since the start of the year. Many of these demolitions have made way for the construction of additional illegal Jewish settlement homes in the eastern sector of the city.