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JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli military bulldozers on Tuesday demolished four stores belonging to Palestinians in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, locals said.

Israeli forces reportedly accompanied the bulldozers into Silwan in the early morning and demolished stores and facilities belonging to Khalil al-Abbasi and Iyad al-Abbasi.

Khalil al-Abbasi told Ma'an that Israeli troops raided his two stores in the Ayn al-Lawza area inside Silwan, ransacking them and throwing the goods out before demolishing them.

Abbasi said that they were the only source of income for his family.

Separately, Iyad al-Abbasi said that Israeli troops ransacked and demolished stores and two rooms belonging to him in the Ayn al-Foka area of Silwan.

He said the demolitions were carried out without any prior warning.

Silwan is one of many Palestinian neighborhoods in occupied East Jerusalem that is seeing an influx of Israeli settlers at the cost of demolition of Palestinian homes and eviction of Palestinian families.

While Jewish residents frequently take over Palestinian buildings with the protection of Israeli forces, government policies make it nearly impossible for Palestinian residents to obtain building permits, according to Israeli rights group the Association for Civil Rights in Israel.

So far this year, 19 Palestinian homes have been demolished in occupied East Jerusalem, leaving 13 Palestinians homeless, according to Israeli rights group B'Tselem.

Nearly 570 homes have been destroyed over the last twelve years, leaving 2,128 Palestinians homeless in total, the group reports.