Israel demolishes Jerusalem building, evicting Palestinians

Israeli bulldozers tore through a four-storey building in east Jerusalem on Monday, leaving scores of Palestinian residents unsure where to go after their doors were broken down in the middle of the night by authorities enforcing hasty evictions.

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The building was the latest in a series of residential structures to be razed as Israeli officials target what they describe as unauthorised construction in the city's annexed east — a campaign that local Palestinian officials characterised as a “systematic policy” to displace residents. “The demolition is a tragedy for all residents,” Eid Shawar, who lives in the building, told AFP.

Located in the Silwan neighbourhood near the Old City, the building comprised a dozen apartments housing approximately 100 people, many of them women, children and elderly residents.

“They broke down the door while we were asleep and told us we could only change our clothes and take essential papers and documents,” said Shawar, a father of five.

With nowhere else to go, Shawar, 38, said his seven-member family would have to sleep in his car. “They are destroying my bedroom,” lamented one woman, as she watched the heavy machines rip through the building.

Three bulldozers began tearing down the structure early on Monday as residents looked on, their clothes and belongings scattered across nearby streets, an AFP journalist saw.