JERUSALEM, May 20, 2015 (WAFA) – Bulldozers working for the Israeli municipality of West Jerusalem Wednesday demolished a two-storey building under construction and a number of stores in Wadi Qadoom neighborhood in East Jerusalem, under the pretext of ‘unlicensed building’.

WAFA correspondent said that an Israeli police force, accompanied with bulldozers and staff from the so-called West Jerusalem municipality, imposed a tight military cordon around the building and the stores before proceeding to demolish them.

The demolished structures belonged to Abu Snaineh family.

Issuance of construction permits for Palestinians living in Area C, under full Israeli administrative and military control, is strictly limited, forcing Palestinians residing in such areas to embark on construction without obtaining a permit.

According to a 2014 OCHA report, “Despite a decline in the number of structures demolished in 2014 compared to 2013, the number of people displaced increased by almost 10 percent.”

It also said that four homes were demolished on punitive grounds in 2014 for the first time since 2005.

“On average, 64 structures were demolished in 2015 on a monthly basis in the first three months of 2015, which is higher than its equivalent figures in 2014 and 2013 (51 and 53, respectively.”

OCHA weekly report covering the period between April 28 and May 6 stated that, “The Israeli authorities demolished three Palestinian structures in two communities in Area C for lack of Israeli-issued building permits, affecting at least two families.

It added, this brings the total number of structures demolished on these grounds in Area C since the beginning of 2015 to 189, compared to 216 in the equivalent period of 2014.

T.R/M.H