Israeli bulldozers demolish house in Jerusalem

Israeli bulldozers Wednesday demolished a Palestinian-owned house in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabal al-Mukkaber, said a local activist.

Rasem Obaidat told WAFA correspondent that dozens of Israeli military police cordoned off the area of al-Hara al-Fuqa and deployed in the alleyways as municipality bulldozers proceeded to demolish the house under the pretense of being built without a rarely-issued Israeli license.

Troops reportedly forced owner, Mahran al-Mughrabi, together with wife and two children out of their 200-square-meter house at gun point before the bulldozers demolished the house without allowing the family to move furniture outside.

Using the pretext of illegal building, Israel demolishes houses on a regular basis to restrict Palestinian expansion in occupied Jerusalem.

At the same time, the municipality and government build tens of thousands of housing units in illegal settlements in East Jerusalem for Jews with a goal to offset the demographic balance in favor of the Jewish settlers in the occupied city.

Although Palestinians in East Jerusalem, a part of the internationally recognized Palestinian Territory that has been subject to Israeli military occupation since 1967, they are denied their citizenship rights and are instead classified only as "residents" whose permits can be revoked if they move away from the city for more than a few years.

They are also discriminated against in all aspects of life including housing, employment and services, and are unable to access services in the West Bank due to the construction of Israel's separation wall.