JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Israeli forces on Monday demolished a Palestinian home under construction in the al-Isawiya neighborhood of East Jerusalem, witnesses and a local spokesman said.
Witnesses said Israeli officers escorted excavators which demolished a house belonging to Ishaq Mustafa Hamdan, claiming it was built without a permit in an area designated as green space.
Local follow-up committee spokesman Muhammad Abu al-Hummus confirmed the demolition. He said Israeli special forces and police mounted on horseback stormed al-Isawiya before the demolition.
Palestinians clashed with Israeli forces during the demolition, and one young man was hit with a rubber-coated bullet in his abdomen, Abu al-Hummus said.
He said the house measured 200 square meters.
The owner, Ishaq Hamdan, was detained two months ago during what Abu al-Hummas called a “collective punishment campaign” launched by Israeli authorities in response to unpaid municipal bills and fines.
Two years ago the Israeli authorities demolished another house under construction belonging to Hamdan, Abu al-Hummus added.
Israel rarely grants construction permits to Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and regularly demolishes structures built without permits.
Israeli bulldozers have demolished at least 359 Palestinian structures in the West Bank so far in 2014, according to the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions.
During the 1967 war, Israel captured East Jerusalem from Jordan, occupied it, and later annexed it in a move never recognized abroad
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