Israel demolishes Palestinian house in Jerusalem

Israeli authorities on Monday demolished a house in the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan in Jerusalem, displacing a family of six, officials told Xinhua. At around 6:30 a.m. local time, bulldozers and paramilitary Border Police arrived to the Wadi Kadum section of Silwan and destroyed the 130-square-meter residential building. A spokesperson of the Jerusalem Municipality confirmed the incident, saying the structure was built without permits. Hours later, authorities demolished a caravan in the Sahel section of Al-Tur, a Palestinian neighborhood in Jerusalem. Ir Amim, a Jerusalem-based human rights watchdog, said in a written note, that the caravan was stationed on a flatbed and the owner asked for a reprieve to locate a functioning truck in order to move it. However, the authorities removed the furniture from the caravan and bulldozed it within half an hour, Ir Amim said. At one time used as a residence, the caravan was uninhabited at the time of demolition. The latest demolitions raise the total number carried out in Jerusalem since the beginning of 2014 to eleven. Last week, four buildings were demolished in the Palestinian neighborhoods of Beit Hanina and Jabal Mukaber, and earlier demolitions took place in Sur Bahar and Isawiyya. East Jerusalem was annexed by Israel following the 1967 Mideast War. However, Israel is trying to block the expansion of neighborhoods of East Jerusalem, as part of its efforts to keep a Jewish majority in the area. As a result, the 300,000 Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem face discrimination in all aspects of their daily life, including education, health services and municipal services.