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JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces demolished a building in the Beit Hanina neighborhood of East Jerusalem on Monday, the second Palestinian house demolition of the day.

Israeli forces escorted bulldozers to the neighborhood and surrounded a housing complex containing three apartments belonging to the Disouqi and Najm families.

Lawyer Khaldoun Najm, owner of one of the apartments, told Ma'an that each apartment was 120 square meters in size, and that a total of eight people, including three children, had been made homeless.
There was no prior notification for the demolition, Najm said, adding that the Israeli municipality agreed on Sunday to change the order to a notification instead.

Israeli forces demolished the home with all of the families' belongings inside, he said.

The destruction severed water and electricity to nearby properties in the neighborhood.

Najm said the families had been living there since April.

Earlier, Israeli forces demolished a Palestinian home in the Jabal al-Mukkabir neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem on the pretext that the property lacked a building permit, locals said.

The owner of the house, Sami Idreis, told Ma'an that Israeli forces raided the Khallat al-Abed area of Jabal al-Mukabbir and surrounded the property before forcing the family out at gunpoint.
As of September this year, 29 Palestinian homes have been demolished in occupied East Jerusalem, leaving 29 Palestinians homeless, according to Israeli rights group B'Tselem.

Nearly 579 homes have been destroyed over the last twelve years, leaving 2,133 Palestinians homeless in total, the group reports.