Israel demolishes Palestinian homes in east Jerusalem

JERUSALEM, July 22 (AP): Israeli work crews on Monday began demolishing dozens of Palestinian homes in an east Jerusalem neighborhood, in one of the largest operations of its kind in years.

The demolitions capped a years-long legal battle over the buildings, built along the invisible line straddling the city and the occupied West Bank. Israel says the buildings were erected too close to its West Bank separation barrier.

Residents say the buildings are on West Bank land, and the Palestinian Authority gave them construction permits.

In the wake of a recent Supreme Court decision clearing the way for the demolitions, Israeli work crews moved into the neighborhood overnight.

Massive construction vehicles smashed through the roofs of several buildings, and large excavators were digging through the rubble.

Gilad Erdan, Israel's minister of public security, said the Supreme Court ruled the illegal construction "constitutes a severe security threat and can provide cover to suicide bombers and other terrorists hiding among civilian population."

He said that those who built houses along the separation barrier "took the law into their own hands."

According to the United Nations, some 20 people already living in the buildings were being displaced, while 350 owners of properties that were under construction or not yet inhabited were also affected.

Hussein al-Sheikh, head of the civil affairs department of the Palestinians Authority, called Monday's demolition a "crime" and demanded international intervention.

In Gaza, the territory's Hamas rulers called for intensifying "resistance" to the "the Zionist settlement project."

"The increase in the occupation's crimes against the residents of the holy city is a result of total American support," said Hazem Qassem, a spokesman for the militant group.

Israel captured east Jerusalem and the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war. The international community considers both areas to be occupied territory, and the Palestinians seek them as parts of a future independent state.