PUNITIVE HOME DEMOLITION LEADS TO SHOOTING, DEATH

C O N F I D E N T I A L JERUSALEM 000629 SIPDIS NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE AND IPA. NSC FOR SHAPIRO/KUMAR. JOINT STAFF FOR LTGEN SELVA E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/22/2024 TAGS: IS KPAL KWBG PGOV PHUM PREL PTER SUBJECT: PUNITIVE HOME DEMOLITION LEADS TO SHOOTING, DEATH REF: JERUSALEM 501 Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles, per reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary. A Palestinian was shot to death by the Israeli National Police (INP) after his car hit and lightly injured three INP officers in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sur Bahir April 7. The officers were involved in the demolition of the home of Husam Duwayit, a Palestinian who killed three Israelis during a bulldozer rampage in July ¶2008. The Jerusalem Municipality also demolished two homes in the Old City for lack of permits. End Summary. PUNITIVE HOME DEMOLITION LINKED TO ONE DEATH IN EAST JERUSALEM -------------- ¶2. (C) An INP officer shot and killed one Palestinian near the site of a home demolition in East Jerusalem's Sur Bahir neighborhood after the Palestinian's vehicle hit and lightly injured three INP officers April 7. The INP officers were in the neighborhood in connection with the demolition of the home of Husam Duwayit, the Palestinian killed after committing a lethal bulldozer attack in West Jerusalem in 2008 (ref para 3). The demolition was carried out by the GoI Ministry of Interior, not the Jerusalem Municipality. B'Tselem Field Reporter Kareem Jubran told PolOff that the MoI demolished Duwayit's second-floor apartment, forcing his wife and three children to move in with his parents. Other apartments and shops in the building remain intact. ¶3. (C) Iyad Azmi Eweisat, a 20-year-old resident of the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabal al-Mukabbar, was shot to death after hitting three INP officers with his car near the demolition. Israeli press described the incident as a terrorist attack, but residents of Sur Bahir -- including the Mukhtar, Zuhair Hamdan -- called the incident a traffic accident and criticized the INP for over-reacting. The INP raided Eweisat's home shortly after the incident. ¶4. (C) COMMENT: The demolition of Duwayit's home is inconsistent with the GoI's Roadmap commitment not to conduct punitive home demolitions. The shooting -- whether a response to a terrorist attack or a traffic accident -- illustrates the potential for violence associated with the upsurge in demolitions in Jerusalem. OTHER HOME DEMOLITIONS ON-GOING IN EAST JERUSALEM -------------- -------------- ¶5. (C) The Jerusalem Municipality demolished two more homes in the Old City's Muslim Quarter April 6. Director of the Old City community center, Burj al-Laqlaq, Emad Jaouny, told PolOff that the owners of the houses -- brothers Ahmad and 'Adl Fakhuri -- were trying to obtain retroactive permits when the demolitions occurred. He said the Municipality previously demolished their homes on this site in 2001. The Fakhuri brothers began rebuilding in 2004, but the Municipality issued "stop work" orders, so the homes remained unfinished. The Municipality issued demolition orders April 2, and demolished the homes April 6. Jaouny said the families now live in the basements of the demolished homes, but that the buildings are not structurally sound. WALLES