Israeli authorities have torn down several Palestinian houses in occupied east Jerusalem on grounds that the structures were built illegally. Gidi Schmerling, a Jerusalem municipality spokesman, said the affected houses and structures were in the neighbourhoods of Shuafat, Zur Baher, Silwan and Jabel Mukabar. "All the houses were demolished in accordance with a court order," he said on Tuesday in a statement to the AFP news agency. The Palestinians have long accused the municipality of discriminating against them and making it virtually impossible to get legal permits for new homes or extensions to existing ones. As a result, thousands of illegal structures were erected in recent decades with Israel issuing demolition orders and destroying dozens of houses each year. Nir Barkat, the mayor of Jerusalem, had vowed to crack down on illegal construction in the city, including east Jerusalem, whose fate is one of the thorniest issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Earlier this year, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights called for a halt to home demolitions in East Jerusalem.
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