The Hamas movement condemned Thursday the bulldozing and demolition operations carried out by the Israeli occupation authorities in the Naqab region in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Hazem Qassem, a spokesperson for the movement, described the operations carried out by the Israeli occupation police against Palestinians in this region, as an extension of the aggression against Palestinian land and people.

Qassem added that the escalation of the occupation authorities' policy against our people in the occupied Palestinian territories proves the occupation's racist face of targeting the Palestinian presence as part of its ethnic cleansing policy.

Compiled footage of ongoing Israeli displacement against Arab residents of Al Atrash village in Naqab desert. #SaveNeqab #Negev pic.twitter.com/hRniOfa8Hv

— Ramy Abdu| رامي عبده (@RamAbdu) December 29, 2021

The spokesperson also called on Palestinians inside the occupied territories to escalate against the Israeli occupation plans that aim to seize land, and to continue their struggle to preserve their Palestinian-Arab identity.

Silwan: 69 homes demolished, 172 demolition orders in 2021

This comes as the Israeli occupation authorities demolished 69 homes in the town of Silwan, south of Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Al-Quds.

In a press conference on Thursday, the Silwan Lands Defence Committee highlighted that the Israeli authorities issued 172 demolition orders during the year 2021, threatening 5,600 homes in the town.

A member of the Silwan Defense Committee, Fakhri Abu Diab, said that during the year 2021, the occupation displaced 342 Al-Quds citizens, 66 percent of whom are children and minors.

Abu Diab added that the occupation issued indictments against 90 homes and fined their owners four million shekels and 370,000 under the so-called illegal construction violations.

Since occupying Al-Quds, the Israeli authorities issued 7,800 judicial demolition orders in Silwan, threatening 10,000 Palestinian citizens in the town with displacement and ethnic cleansing.

5,600 threatened with demolition

For his part, Ahmad Al-Rawidi, an advisor in the Palestinian Presidential Office, underlined that 5,600 houses are threatened with demolition in all neighborhoods of Al-Quds, including neighborhoods that are threatened with complete demolition, such as the Al-Bustan neighborhood, Wadi Yasoul, and Ain Al-Lawzeh.

On Wednesday, the Israeli occupation demolished the house of young Basel Jalajel, who has been living in it for several months, under the pretext of building without a permit.

Although the citizens submitted plans to license their homes, the occupation does not grant such permits except in rare cases.

The occupation authorities plan to establish the "Garden of the King" on the ruins of the Al-Bustan neighborhood.

Read more: Occupation forces storm Swih neighborhood in occupied Silwan, al-Quds