Israeli authorities demolish a house in East Jerusalem

On Tuesday 15th January, the West Jerusalem Municipality demolished a house belonged to a Palestinian in Sur Baher, south east of Jerusalem, under the pretext of building without a permit, said the house owner. Aref Amera, 71, told Palestinian official news agency WAFA that the municipality staff accompanied by Israeli police demolished his two-storey 120 square meters home, which includes seven family members. a month ago, the house owner has received a demolishing notice, yet the Israeli authorities demolished the house before the ending of the 90-days deadline stated by the law. Amera said, \"My father built this house, and I renovated it to protect it from falling down.\" He explained, \"We applied for a permit several times, but failed to obtain one especially that it costs about $100,000.\" Confrontations erupted between the police and the residents of the neighborhood following the raid of Amira\'s house and fired tear gas canisters at them. Residents of west Jerusalem tend to build houses without permits because the Municipality do not grant them any construction permits, forcing them to break the law.