JERUSALEM, Tuesday, November 26, 2019 (WAFA) – Staff of the Israeli municipality of West Jerusalem today demolished a Palestinian house in the industrial zone near Qalandia town, located to the north of the occupied city of Jerusalem.

Local sources confirmed Israeli forces escorted a bulldozer to the Israeli industrial zone of Atarot, established on lands seized from Qalandiya town, where the heavy machinery demolished a Palestinian house purportedly for being built without a license.

An online video posted by Wadi Hilweh Information Center, a Silwan-based settlement watchdog, shows scores of Israeli border police guards preventing the house owners, identified as the Bazyan family, from approaching it as the demolition proceeded.

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.

Palestinians in East Jerusalem are often 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.

K.F./M.K.