Israel demolishes another Palestinian residential building in East Jerusalem

By Abdelraouf Arnaout

JERUSALEM (AA) – Israeli forces demolished a Palestinian residential building in occupied East Jerusalem on Wednesday, according to witnesses.

Israeli municipal authorities cited the lack of a construction permit for razing the building in Jabel Mukaber neighborhood southeast of East Jerusalem, the witnesses said.

The building was inhabited by nearly 50 Palestinians.

“Israeli forces demolished part of the building in 2009 and they leveled it all today without prior warning,” Um Adam al-Husseini, the building’s owner, told Anadolu.

"We have been living in the building since 2006, and we have repeatedly tried to obtain a building permit, but to no avail,” she said.

Israel widely uses the pretext of the lack of construction permits to demolish Palestinian structures in the occupied West Bank, especially in Area C.

Under the 1995 Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, was divided into three portions – Area A, B, and C.

Palestinians insist that East Jerusalem is the capital of their future Palestinian state, while Israel maintains that Jerusalem, in its entirety – both East and West sectors – is its capital.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio