Israel demolishes 3 Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem

By Esat Firat

JERUSALEM

The Israeli military demolished three Palestinian-owned homes and a store late Tuesday in East Jerusalem.

The Jerusalem Municipality decided to raze the buildings in the towns of Jabal al-Mukaber and Silwan without prior notice to the owners on the pretext that they built the structures without authorization, according to the Wadi Helwa Information Center in the occupied territory.

Two homes and a store owned by Jamal Idkiydik were located in Silwan and Feryal Jeabis’ 130-square-meter (1,400-square-foot) house, which hosted seven people, was located in Jabal al-Mukaber.

The center stressed that Jeabis’ home was demolished even though the municipality had delayed the decision.

Palestinians, along with several international rights groups, say the Jerusalem Municipality has deliberately hindered construction by Palestinians since Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967.

Rights groups also point out that Israeli settlers, in contrast, encounter little difficulty obtaining permits to build Jewish-only housing units on confiscated Palestinian land in the city.

Palestinian sources say that Israeli forces have demolished over 5,000 homes in East Jerusalem since 1967.

Palestinians hope East Jerusalem might eventually serve as the capital of a future Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders.