By Umamah Bakharia

A Shocking House Demolition in Sheikh Jarrah 

Israeli armed forces tore down a house in an overnight raid that displaced a family of 18 from their home in Sheikh Jarrah.

Large numbers of Israeli police and special forces raided the Salhiyeh home and blocked off the surrounding area at 3am on Wednesday. The family told Al Jazeera that dozens of heavily armed forces broke into their home while they were sleeping and assaulted family members and arresting six of them including the head of the household, Mahmoud Salhiyeh.

Israeli authorities have justified the demolition to build a special education school for the residents of the neighborhood.

“This shows that despite the intense international focus and all the hashtag since last year of Sheikh Jarrah, the Israeli’s still believe that they have a space to act and indeed they have acted,’ says Hafiz Moosa.

Palestinian man marks 40 years in Israeli detention 

A Palestinian man sentenced to life in prison has marked his 40th year in detention in an Israeli jail.

Maher Younes, 64, was arrested by Israeli forces in the town of Ara in northern Israel on 18 January, 1983, according to a statement by the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS), an NGO that advocates for the rights of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

The NGO said the Israeli authorities have set Younes’ life sentence at 40 years, meaning that he is serving his last year in prison.

2021 Record Year For Emigration From SA to Israel 

The Immigration and Absorption Ministry, Jewish Agency and Nefesh B’Nefesh says that a total of 27,050 new immigrants arrived in Israel over 2021, representing a 30 percent increase over the previous year’s particularly low figures.

Overall, immigration rose by 30% this year compared to 2020, though it remains below the annual figures recorded in the years preceding the COVID-19 pandemic.