ISRAEL RAZES PALESTINIAN SHOPS IN E. JERUSALEM

Al-Quds, 14 Safar 1436/7 Desember 2014 (MINA)­­- Israeli army bulldozers on Wednesday (3/12) demolished a Palestinian building and 20 commercial shops in occupied East Jerusalem on claims that they had been built without permission.

“Four bulldozers backed by 300 Israeli troops forced their way into the Shuafat refugee camp early this morning and began demolishing 20 shops and one building,” Mohamed Masalmeh, head of the refugee camp’s popular committee told The Anadolu Agency.

He said that Israeli forces had prevented anyone from approaching the area since early morning, ALRAY, Palestinian Media Agency quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

Owned by the al-Dijani family, the demolished properties had sat on 800 square meters of land.

“The targeted shops had included coffee shops, car repair shops, chicken butcheries, vegetable stores, supermarkets and many more,” he said.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank during the 1967 Middle East War. It later annexed the city of Jerusalem in 1980, claiming it as the capital of the self-proclaimed Jewish state in a move never recognized by the international community.

International law views the West Bank and East Jerusalem as “occupied territories,” considering all Jewish settlement building on the land to be illegal.

Palestinians, for their part, complain that the Israeli municipal authorities impose tight restrictions on the construction and renovation of Palestinian homes in the flashpoint city. (T/P010/P3)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)