Israeli authorities demolish homes and residential building in Jerusalem
Bulldozers levelled the buildings after residents were made to empty them, and Israeli forces are still pushing residents out of other homes in the town.
Israeli authorities demolished several homes and a residential building in a town in occupied Jerusalem on Thursday, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.
The Jerusalem Governorate said Israeli bulldozers entered the town and carried out the demolitions after residents were ordered to remove their belongings from the houses first.
The homes destroyed belonged to Ziad Ahmad al-Sheikh, Ghazi Ahmad al-Sheikh, Wael Samara, Murad Shammasneh and Ahmad Walid al-Dali, the governorate said.
The governorate added that the demolitions left 20 Palestinians homeless, and that Israeli forces are continuing to force residents out of other houses in the same town.
The governorate also accused Israeli authorities of denying Palestinians access to building permits in Jerusalem, and of either demolishing homes or forcing owners to tear them down themselves.
It described these actions as part of a systematic policy aimed at pushing Palestinians out of the city and its surroundings while settlements expand.
Israel captured East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war and later annexed it, a move the United Nations has not recognized.
Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state, and rights groups have long criticized Israel's planning and permit rules in the area, which they say make it very hard for Palestinians to build legally.
The international community generally regards Israeli settlements in occupied territory as illegal under international law, a position Israel disputes.