Israel demolishes 3 Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem

By Esat Firat</p> <p>JERUSALEM (AA) – The Israeli military demolished three Palestinian-owned homes and a store late Tuesday in East Jerusalem.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>The center stressed that Jeabis’ home was demolished even though the municipality had delayed the decision.</p> <p>Palestinians, along with several international rights groups, say the Jerusalem Municipality has deliberately hindered construction by Palestinians since Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>Palestinian sources say that Israeli forces have demolished over 5,000 homes in East Jerusalem since 1967.</p> <p>Palestinians hope East Jerusalem might eventually serve as the capital of a future Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders.