Israel demolition in al-Quds leaves 35 homeless

OCCUPIED-AL-QUDS: Israeli authorities demolished a residential building in annexed east al-Quds on Tuesday, leaving 35 people, the majority of them children, homeless.

The demolition of the three-storey building in the neighbourhood of Silwan was carried out because the owners lacked the required permits, the authorities said. Israel regularly razes homes built by Palestinians in east Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank if they lack the relevant construction permits.

The catch, according to an UN study, is that such permits are "virtually impossible" to obtain, and the result is a chronic housing shortage. "Municipality personnel came at 9:00 am, broke the doors, expelled us and didn’t let us take any belongings," said Faris Rajabi, 35, who lived in the building.