World Bulletin / News Desk

Israeli authorities have issued demolition orders for 200 residential units in the city of Al-Quds (Jerusalem), threatening some 15,000 Palestinian Jerusalemites with displacement.

"The 200 units threatened with demolition are currently home to 15,000 Palestinians," Jamil Sanduqa, who heads a local committee devoted to the development of the city's Rash Khamis neighborhood, told Anadolu Agency on Friday.

According to Sanduqa, Israeli municipal officials extensively photographed the area early Friday morning.

Demolition orders have also been issued for a number of homes in the city's Wadi Hilweh neighborhood.

"Israel is trying to empty Al-Quds of its Arab inhabitants by demolishing their homes and withdrawing their Jerusalem residencies," Hatim Abdel-Qadir, who heads a committee devoted to Jerusalem affairs for the Fatah movement of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, told AA.

Abdel-Qadir, a former minister for Al-Quds affairs, asserted that the new home demolition orders were part of an Israeli policy to "Judaize" the city.

For years, the self-proclaimed Jewish state has been systematically demolishing Palestinian homes in al-Quds on the grounds that they lack official permits.

Earlier this week, Israeli bulldozers leveled two Palestinian houses in Jerusalem's Al Beit Haninan neighborhood, displacing 25 Palestinian residents.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Israeli authorities have demolished more than 500 Palestinian homes in the West Bank and Al-Quds since the beginning of the current year.