Zionist Troops Deployed to Demolish Homes
Palestinian Village of Sur Bahir Eradicated
OCCUPIED AL-QUDS (Dispatches) -- Israeli bulldozers joined by hundreds of soldiers and police demolished Palestinian homes on the outskirts of East Jerusalem Al-Quds on Monday, in the face of local protests and international criticism.
Troops moved into the Palestinian village of Sur Bahir in the early hours to demolish 11 buildings, including dozens of homes, in the Wadi Hummus neighborhood close to the barrier which cuts the West Bank from Jerusalem Al-Quds.
By late afternoon, at least one resident had been arrested and 10 buildings razed, the Middle East Eye’s correspondent reported.
Palestinian Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh told a gathering of ministers on Monday that the demolitions were a violation of international law, while other Palestinian officials called for the International Criminal Court to investigate.
UN officials said they were ready to provide assistance to those who had been displaced, but added that "no amount of humanitarian assistance” could replace the loss of the owners, some who had invested their life savings.
"Among those forcibly displaced or otherwise impacted are Palestine refugees, some of whom today are facing the reality of a second displacement in living memory,” a UN statement said.
Residents said that Zionist forces cut through a wire section of the barrier in Sur Bahir under cover of darkness around 2am on Monday and started evacuating people before planting explosives to start the demolitions.
The work was filmed and photographed by Palestinian, Israeli and international activists who had mobilized to try and stop the activity.
The occupying regime of Israel’s military has declared the area closed for three days, forbidding people from entering or staying in the neighborhood. Palestinians are banned from collecting their belongings or erecting tents in the area.
The Zionist regime’s supreme court ruled in June that the structures violated a construction ban. The deadline for residents to remove the affected buildings, or parts of them, expired on Friday.
Palestinians now fear that Monday's demolitions will set a precedent for other towns along the route of the separation barrier, which runs for hundreds of kilometers around and through the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
There is also concern that the Zionist regime will now seek to demolish more homes across Palestinian Authority-administered parts of the West Bank, which some of Wadi Hummus lies in.
Palestinians in Jerusalem Al-Quds find it nearly impossible to obtain building permits from the Israeli authorities who have occupied the city’s eastern neighborhoods since 1967.
Troops moved into the Palestinian village of Sur Bahir in the early hours to demolish 11 buildings, including dozens of homes, in the Wadi Hummus neighborhood close to the barrier which cuts the West Bank from Jerusalem Al-Quds.
By late afternoon, at least one resident had been arrested and 10 buildings razed, the Middle East Eye’s correspondent reported.
Palestinian Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh told a gathering of ministers on Monday that the demolitions were a violation of international law, while other Palestinian officials called for the International Criminal Court to investigate.
UN officials said they were ready to provide assistance to those who had been displaced, but added that "no amount of humanitarian assistance” could replace the loss of the owners, some who had invested their life savings.
"Among those forcibly displaced or otherwise impacted are Palestine refugees, some of whom today are facing the reality of a second displacement in living memory,” a UN statement said.
Residents said that Zionist forces cut through a wire section of the barrier in Sur Bahir under cover of darkness around 2am on Monday and started evacuating people before planting explosives to start the demolitions.
The work was filmed and photographed by Palestinian, Israeli and international activists who had mobilized to try and stop the activity.
The occupying regime of Israel’s military has declared the area closed for three days, forbidding people from entering or staying in the neighborhood. Palestinians are banned from collecting their belongings or erecting tents in the area.
The Zionist regime’s supreme court ruled in June that the structures violated a construction ban. The deadline for residents to remove the affected buildings, or parts of them, expired on Friday.
Palestinians now fear that Monday's demolitions will set a precedent for other towns along the route of the separation barrier, which runs for hundreds of kilometers around and through the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
There is also concern that the Zionist regime will now seek to demolish more homes across Palestinian Authority-administered parts of the West Bank, which some of Wadi Hummus lies in.
Palestinians in Jerusalem Al-Quds find it nearly impossible to obtain building permits from the Israeli authorities who have occupied the city’s eastern neighborhoods since 1967.