Along with the constant violations of the ceasefire in Gaza, home demolitions are continuing apace in East Jerusalem. In Silwan, a Palestinian neighborhood south of the Old City, the destruction does not come in the form of bombing, but as a routine administrative procedure.

On December 22, shortly after dawn, Israeli authorities razed a thirteen-apartment building in the Wadi Qaddum neighborhood. After sealing off the area and cutting off utilities, bulldozers left about a hundred people homeless, forcing some to watch the destruction amid arrests and violence.

The official justification is always the same: a lack of building permits. However, in East Jerusalem, obtaining such authorization is almost impossible. Since 1967, less than 13 percent of the territory has been designated for Palestinian construction; zoning plans exclude entire neighborhoods, and applications are systematically rejected. In this context, building without a license is not a violation but a vital necessity. This makes urban planning itself into a colonial technology that decides who can stay and who must disappear.