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Israeli authorities demolish Palestinian structures in East Jerusalem

December 28, 2016 at 9:52 pm

General view to the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Silwan 21 June 2010 [Mahfouz Abu Turk/APA Images]

Israel’s Jerusalem municipality demolished Palestinian-owned structures in the occupied East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Silwan today, under the pretext that they lacked Israeli-issued building permits, according to local organisation the Wadi Hilweh Information Centre.

The centre said that municipality crew, accompanied by Israeli police forces, destroyed three containers and a steel structure belonging to the Siyam family in the Ein Al-Luza neighbourhood of Silwan. The structures were being used for agricultural purposes.

Local sources said that parts of a store – measuring some 10 square metres – belonging to the Abu Hadwan family was also demolished in the area.

A spokesperson for the Jerusalem municipality could not immediately be reached for comment on the demolitions.

Demolitions of Palestinian structures and homes in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem have seen an unprecedented surge this year, with the number of structures demolished in the first half of 2016 well exceeding the total number of demolitions carried out in all of 2015. At least 1,569 Palestinians have been displaced since the beginning of 2016 – including 239 in East Jerusalem – as a result of demolitions in the occupied territory, compared to 757 Palestinians displaced in all of 2015, according to UN documentation.