The Israeli occupation authorities' demolition of citizens' homes in the villages and towns of the occupied Jerusalem Governorate has escalated.

Local sources reported that Israeli municipality bulldozers demolished the home of Mahmoud Omar Abu Teir, a citizen, in the village of Umm Tuba, south of occupied Jerusalem, which had been built for 20 years.

The family explained that they had submitted an application for a building permit, but that the request was rejected on the grounds that "there was no zoning plan for the area."

Local sources added that Adam Shakirat was forced to demolish his home in the town of Jabal al-Mukaber, southeast of the city, to avoid paying hefty fines. The house, which measures 100 square meters, houses eight people.

In the town of Silwan, south of Al-Aqsa Mosque, Israeli municipal bulldozers and equipment demolished a retaining wall belonging to the Bashir family.

Occupation bulldozers also demolished and leveled a residential room and walls in the Al-Buhaira neighborhood in the town of Anata, in addition to uprooting trees and lands and cutting off electricity lines in the area.

The Jerusalem Governorate stated that the demolitions included two temporary rooms provided by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) as housing assistance for the owners of homes previously destroyed by the occupation forces.

The Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission documented 73 demolition operations carried out by the occupation authorities during April, affecting 152 facilities, including 96 inhabited homes, 10 uninhabited ones, and 34 agricultural facilities. These operations were concentrated in the governorates of Tubas with 59 facilities, Hebron with 39, and Jerusalem with 17.