Israel blows up "illegally built" Palestinian home

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"Israeli security forces blew up a Palestinian four-storey apartment block near East Jerusalem on Monday because Israel said some of the structure had been built without planning permission.

An Israeli police spokesman said security forces had surrounded the structure in the Palestinian suburb of Beit Hanina north of central Jerusalem, before bulldozers began preparing it for demolition. It was blown up in the evening.

"The operation began in the early hours of the morning, the owners were evacuated and the explosion was carried out in the evening once everybody was clear from danger," he said.

Dozens of local residents and their supporters protested against the demolition and called on Palestinian officials for help.

Palestinians complain that Israel unfairly denies building permits to Arabs in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, while encouraging Jews to build there."

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Eyewitnesses told Ma'an that a large number of heavily armed Israeli forces and police prevented citizens and solidarity activists, who had gathered near the house for the past two days, from approaching the building. Israeli police then forced the residents outside, before placing explosives in the building and detonating them. Eyewitnesses reported that the upper stories collapsed onto the lower part of the building, and the structure was reduced to a pile of rubble. Nearby houses were damaged from the force of the explosion.

Earlier on Monday, a number of citizens and activists who had gathered at the building to try to prevent its demolition were injured when Israeli forces stormed the house. Several people were transported to local hospitals.

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http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=30878