When administrative demolition is not an option (i.e. when the home is not newly built or renovated), another mechanism is used to expel Palestinians from east Jerusalem, namely judicial demolitions, targeting firstly homes in the Old City. Issued by the District or Local Affairs Commission, they usually follow the trial and conviction of someone who was engaged in illegal construction (i.e. on a non-registered land or on a land not zoned for this purpose), as long as the construction is not older than five years. If the construction is older than five years, the Planning and Building Law of 1965 allows for judicial demolitions through its Article 212, which considers such homes as “public nuisance” and hence justifies their demolition.126 In east Jerusalem between January 2009 and August 2020, Israeli authorities demolished 1360 structures over lack of building permits, displacing 2462 people.127 According to OCHA estimates, 877 people face eviction cases and are at risk of displacement for the year 2019 alone,128 most of which are located in the Old City of Jerusalem and in the neighborhoods of Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan. 126 Article 212 of the Planning and Building Law, 5725—1965, Available at: https:// www.adalah.org/uploads/oldfiles/Public/files/Discriminatory-Laws-Database/ English/07-National-Planning-Building-Law-1965.pdf 127 Amnesty International Report, Israel’s Apartheid against Palestinians, 221. 128 OCHA oPt, “Settler organization increasing presence in Palestinian neighbourhoods”, 2019, Accessed 15 February 2022, Available at: Palestinian family evicted from Silwan neighbourhood in East Jerusalem | United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs - occupied Palestinian territory (ochaopt.org). 30