Israeli authorities demolish school under construction in East Jerusalem

JERUSALEM (AA) - The Israeli occupation authorities on Tuesday demolished a school under construction in the Dahiyat al-Salam neighborhood in East Jerusalem.

Eyewitnesses told Anadolu Agency that the Israeli authorities used a bulldozer to demolish the school, which they said was built without a permit.

The demolition process included confrontations between a number of Palestinians and the Israeli army, which provided protection to the teams who carried out the demolition.

Eyewitnesses noted that the Israeli forces arrested at least one Palestinian.

On the other hand, the Israeli municipality in occupied Jerusalem forced Yousef Abu Ghannam, a local resident, to demolish his house, in the town of al-Tur.

This is the second time the house, home to 20 people, is demolished with the pretext of having no construction permit.

The municipality had earlier warned Abu Ghannam to demolish his house, saying it would otherwise demolish it, and fine him to pay a fee.

Recently, the Israeli municipality in Jerusalem resorted to escalating self-demolition decisions in Jerusalem, to avoid international criticism of the demolitions.

Palestinians have complained that the Israeli occupation authorities impose severe restrictions on construction operations in and around East Jerusalem.

* Writing by Mahmoud Barakat in Ankara