Morocco condemns Israeli demolition of Jerusalem homes

RABAT (AA) - Morocco has condemned Israeli government’s demolition of dozens of Palestinian homes in occupied East Jerusalem, local media reported.

"Morocco expresses its firm condemnation of the demolition by the Israeli authorities of houses belonging to Palestinian citizens in [Wadi Homs] south of the occupied Al-Quds [Jerusalem], located in a classified area A according to the Oslo agreements," Morocco’s state-run news agency MAP quoted Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita as saying on Thursday.

"Morocco flatly rejects all unilateral measures likely to change the historical and legal status in Al-Quds, to stir feelings of despair and disappointment among the Palestinian people and to undermine the Middle East peace process," the Moroccan foreign minister added.

Since Monday dawn, bulldozers accompanied by hundreds of Israeli soldiers moved into the neighborhood of Wadi Homs in East Jerusalem and began razing several buildings in the area.

Israeli authorities claim the buildings were constructed without a permit.

Israel had occupied East Jerusalem, where the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War.

In a move never recognized by the international community, Israel annexed the entire city in 1980, claiming it the self-proclaimed Jewish state’s “eternal and undivided” capital.