By Anadolu staff
JERUSALEM (AA) – Israeli forces demolished a Palestinian home on Tuesday in the town of Silwan in occupied East Jerusalem, according to witnesses.
Israeli authorities cited a lack of a building permit for the demolition in al-Bustan neighborhood, the witnesses said.
Dozens of Palestinian homes are demolished every year by the Israeli authorities in occupied East Jerusalem and in the West Bank, especially in areas classified by Israel as 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.
Tension has been running high across the West Bank amid a deadly Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip, which killed more than 40,400 people, mostly women and children, and injured over 93,600 others since Oct. 7, 2023.
At least 651 Palestinians have since been killed and nearly 5,400 others injured by Israeli army fire in the occupied West Bank, according to the Health Ministry.
In a landmark opinion on July 19, the International Court of Justice declared Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian land unlawful and demanded the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
*Writing by Ahmed Asmar