Jerusalem’s ‘self-demolition’ crisis: Palestinians forced to tear down their own homes

NewsWorldMiddle EastIn focusJerusalem’s ‘self-demolition’ crisis: Palestinians forced to tear down their own homesGrowing number of Palestinians forced to carry out ‘self-demolitions’ in Jerusalem to escape Israeli enforcement costs, writes Khalil MousaTuesday 21 April 2026 09:34 BSTBookmarkCommentsGo to commentsBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popover{"translations":{"comments":"Go to comments","share":"Share","copyLink":"Copy link","bookmark":"Bookmark","removeBookmark":"Remove bookmark"},"showComments":true,"showBookmark":true,"articleId":"b2959871","articleMeta":{"url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/jerusalem-self-demolition-palestine-israel-b2959871.html","title":"Jerusalem’s ‘self-demolition’ crisis: Palestinians forced to tear down their homes"},"popoverPlacementOverride":"bottom"}CloseIsrael destroys Palestinian east Jerusalem homesOn The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondentsGet a weekly dispatch from our international correspondentsGet a weekly international news dispatchEmail*SIGN UPI would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice{"className":"sc-1ge0fwe-0","newsletterData":{"regSourceNewsletter":"IND_On_The_Ground_Newsletter","regTitle":"On The Ground","subscriptionGroup":"on_the_ground","subscriptionGroupId":"14806361-6435-4d19-b06e-05326605fb01","pathPrefix":["/news/world/europe","/news/world/middle-east","/news/world/australasia","/news/world/africa","/asia"],"associatedAuthors":["Bel Trew","Sam Kiley"],"title":"On The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents","mobileTitle":"Get a weekly international news dispatch","lengthenedMobileTitle":"Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents","imageSrc":"https://static.independent.co.uk/static-assets/images/newsletters/onTheGround1_1.png","newsletterKey":"receiveOnTheGround","regSourceSection":"Middle East","regSourceMethod":"N...