Jerusalem Palestinian family forced to demolish house

JERUSALEM (AA) - Israeli authorities on Saturday forced a Palestinian family to demolish its own house in occupied East Jerusalem, the family members told Anadolu Agency.

Israel had issued an order to demolish the two-apartment house in the Silwan neighborhood, south of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

“Israeli authorities gave us until Dec. 10 to demolish our house,” Murad Hashmyeh told Anadolu Agency.

He said 14 people live in the house -- half of them children -- which was built 20 years ago.

According to Hashmyeh, Israel threatened to charge the family for the demolition.

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

International law views the West Bank and East Jerusalem as "occupied territories" and considers all Israeli settlement building on the land to be illegal.

Palestinians accuse Israel of waging an aggressive campaign to "Judaize" Jerusalem with the aim of wiping away its Arab and Islamic identity and driving out its Palestinian inhabitants.