The Jerusalem municipality demolished what it called two illegal buildings in an eastern Jerusalem neighborhood.
The buildings taken down on Nov. 4 were in Abu Tor, a mixed Arab and Jewish neighborhood.
Palestinian families were living on the first floors of both buildings, the Palestinian Ma’an news agency reported.
“The municipality enforces the law against illegal buildings equally, in all parts of the city,” the Jerusalem municipality said in a statement.
The buildings were considered “unoccupied and unfinished,” the statement said, and were erected in areas where construction is prohibited.
The neighborhood has been the site of clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces in recent weeks. The violence escalated this week after the alleged shooter of a Temple Mount activist was killed in a raid by Israel police.
The activist, Rabbi Yehuda Glick, is in serious condition and on a respirator in a Jerusalem hospital.
In a letter to the alleged shooter’s family, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas wrote that Muataz Hijazi “will go to heaven as a martyr defending the rights of our people and its holy places.” — jta