Israel destroys two Palestinian homes in Jerusalem

On Tuesday morning, Israeli authorities destroyed two Palestinian homes in the Khellat al-Ein neighbourhood to the east of the old city of Jerusalem claiming they had been built without permission.

Witnesses said that large numbers of Israeli forces accompanied by two bulldozers approached the area at 6am and besieged the two houses.

According to witnesses, the Israeli forces got out of their vehicles, broke into the houses, evacuated them and then destroyed them.

Describing the cruelty of the Israelis, a female resident of one of the houses told the Palestinian news agency Safa: “While we were sleeping, they [Israeli occupation forces] broke into our house and asked us to leave immediately.”

“They did not did not give enough time for us to evacuate my grandmother and we were not allowed to take any of our property,” she added.

The owners of the two houses, who are staying in a makeshift tent, said that their houses were built twelve years ago. A destruction order was issued three years ago, but the strangest aspect of the whole matter is that they have been paying construction tax for the past six years.

The mother, Um Mahmoud, said that they were obliged to pay much money for illegal construction. The last sum they paid was NIS50.000 (£9.000). “None of this was considered,” she told Safa.