JERUSALEM (JTA) — Demolition notices were distributed in the eastern Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan.
Security forces accompanied municipal inspectors Wednesday during the operation, Ynet reported, quoting area residents.
"This is a provocation by Mayor Nir Barkat, who is implementing the settler ‘price tag’ policy following the court order to seal off Beit Yonatan," a Jewish-owned building in Silwan, Peace Now told Ynet.
Barkat said earlier this month in a letter to state Prosecutor Moshe Lador that he would execute the sealing and demolition orders pending against Beit Yonatan, a seven-story building that is home to eight Jewish families. The building was built five years ago by the rightist organization Ateret Cohanim without the proper permits, a Jerusalem court found.
But the letter also said that the municipality would destroy 70 illegally built Palestinian structures in Silwan in the interest of enforcing the rule of law uniformly.
On Feb. 8, the Jerusalem municipality canceled the distribution of eviction notices for Beit Yonatan after police said that such an action requires coordination with local police.
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