22 injured as Israel demolishes Palestinian home in East Jerusalem

By Said Amouri

JERUSALEM (AA) – At least 22 Palestinians were injured in clashes with Israeli forces on Tuesday during a home demolition in occupied East Jerusalem, according to medics.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said its medics treated 16 Palestinians in Silwan neighborhood in the city this evening following clashes with Israeli soldiers.

Six other Palestinians were treated by medics in the same neighborhood earlier in the day, it added.

Local residents said the violence erupted when Israeli bulldozers moved into the area to demolish a Palestinian house for lack of permit.

Palestinian and Israeli rights groups say the Israeli demolition policy aims to limit the presence of Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem.

Jerusalem remains at the heart of the Israel-Palestine conflict, with Palestinians hoping East Jerusalem might eventually serve as capital of a future Palestinian state.

International law regards both the West Bank and East Jerusalem as occupied territories and considers all Jewish settlement-building activity there illegal.

* Writing by Ahmed Asmar