Pointing to the corner where he once shared tea with his mother, Fakhri Abu Diab stands amid the ruins of his demolished home in anguish.
“I remember as a child going out with my mother to tend the land, then coming back to this spot to share a cup of tea,” the Palestinian father of five said, gesturing towards the shattered remains of what was once his family home.
Located in occupied East Jerusalem's al-Bustan neighbourhood, the house was demolished by Israeli authorities in 2024.
It was one of dozens of Palestinian homes razed in the area south of Al-Aqsa Mosque as part of plans to expand Israeli settler projects and biblical-themed parks.
“They demolished my childhood, my memories, and even the scent of my mother,” Abu Diab, a long-time anti-occupation activist, told Middle East Eye.
Al-Bustan is one of the three main sections of Silwan, a Palestinian district bordering the southern walls of Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City.
For decades, Silwan and other Palestinian neighbourhoods surrounding the Old City have been at the centre of Israeli demolition campaigns and displacement efforts.
Israeli troops shot at a car in the occupied West Bank, killing a 7-month-old Palestinian baby...
Palestine casualty count: Over the last 24 hours, 11 Palestinians were killed and 32 injured in...
The Department of Justice’s civil rights division was once known as the crown jewel of the...
Pro-Palestinian activists have launched a new campaign at the port of Gioia Tauro in southern Italy...
