Large contingents of police and municipal forces carried out extensive demolition operations today in the al-Bustan neighborhood of Silwan. The forces demolished walls between homes in the neighborhood, a compound used for selling construction materials, and parking shelters built by residents.
The Jerusalem Municipality relied on a municipal bylaw titled “Maintaining Order and Cleanliness” (Section 39), which grants the mayor authority to order the removal of obstacles from public streets. However, the municipality issued the evacuation orders at 9:25 a.m. without providing residents any opportunity to remove the alleged “obstacles” themselves or to appeal the orders. Only minutes later, bulldozers began demolishing the structures. It should be noted that the demolished structures and walls had stood for years on land that is not part of any existing “street.”
Residents swiftly filed an urgent petition with the Jerusalem District Court, through attorneys Amar Sumeri and Yazid Qawar. The court issued an interim injunction halting further demolitions. After approximately three hours of demolition activity, the bulldozers withdrew from the neighborhood.
The Deputy President of the Jerusalem District Court, Judge Ram Winograd, sharply criticized the municipality, stating:
“Such conduct cannot be accepted, whereby a decision is made to demolish property accompanied by a warning that the property will be demolished if it is not cleared within 20 minutes. Setting such a timetable does not allow the affected party to take actions to which it is entitled.”
The court ordered the municipality to clarify when the decision to demolish structures under the municipal bylaw was made, how many structures have been demolished in this manner in recent years, and whether the operation was supported by a legal opinion.
Residents fear that the municipality will resume demolitions in the coming days or weeks, after efforts to reach a compromise on alternative planning proposals for al-Bustan were rejected by the municipality.
During the demolitions, police violently arrested several residents. One resident was evacuated to the hospital suffering from injuries to the head and back and from extreme exhaustion following beatings by police officers.
ההריסות בבוסתאן נמשכות: https://t.co/C7929wPPqD pic.twitter.com/4e5mPPJ42z
— Hagit Ofran חגית עופרן (@hagitofran) February 10, 2026
Background to the Demolitions: Plan to Clear an Entire Neighborhood for a Tourist-Settlement Park
The demolition operation is part of a broader plan to raze the al-Bustan neighborhood in order to establish the so-called “King’s Garden” a tourist park for visitors to the City of David site, which is operated by the settler organization Elad.
Al-Bustan residents have been struggling against this plan for decades and have submitted alternative planning proposals to the municipality. The municipality has consistently refused to advance the residents’ plans.
Over the past two years, the municipality has demolished dozens of housing units in al-Bustan, leaving hundreds of residents homeless. Dozens of additional structures slated for demolition are home to more than 1,000 people who face the risk of being displaced.
Peace Now: “Since the demolition of the Mughrabi Quarter in 1967 to make way for the Western Wall Plaza, Israel has not carried out the expulsion of an entire neighborhood. Now, the municipality, backed by the government and the police, is advancing the displacement of a whole neighborhood in order to establish a tourist-settlement park. This policy, which on the one hand virtually prevents Palestinians in Jerusalem from building homes and on the other hand demolishes their houses, is a cruel, settlement-driven policy with no limits. For years Israel has claimed that Jerusalem is a ‘united’ city, but its policy toward the Palestinian population shows that this is not ‘unity,’ but occupation.”
Gardening’ Orders to Advance the Tourist Park
In January, the municipality issued two “gardening” and parking orders covering approximately six dunams of land in al-Bustan. These orders, issued under a municipal bylaw, allow the municipality to use privately owned land deemed a “vacant lot” that its owner is allegedly not using, for the establishment of a public garden or parking area.
One of the orders applies to land on which five homes had stood before being demolished by the municipality over the past two years due to the lack of building permits after the municipality itself refused to advance the building plans submitted by residents. Having demolished the homes, the municipality now seeks to treat the privately owned plots as “vacant lots” not being used by their owners. In other words, after preventing landowners from using their land, the municipality takes control of it on the pretext that the owners are not using it.
On the land seized through these gardening orders, the municipality plans to establish public gardens and parking facilities for tourists visiting the City of David site.
The ‘vacant lots’ taken over by the municipality. The remains of the demolished homes are still visible.