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Palestinians fear that the razing of buildings near what Israel describes as a security barrier against Palestinian attacks will set a precedent for other towns along its route, which snakes through the West Bank for hundreds of kilometers.

The demolition is part of the latest round of protracted wrangling over the future of Jerusalem, home to more than 500,000 Israelis and 300,000 Palestinians.

Israeli forces cut through a wire section of the barrier in Sur Baher under cover of darkness early on Monday, and began clearing residents, before bulldozers and mechanical tore down homes.

Palestinian owners said their buildings lay within areas run by the Palestinian Authority (PA), which exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank under the Oslo interim peace deals with Israel.

“I built this house stone by stone. It was my dream to live in this house. Now I am losing everything,” said Tareq al-Wahash, 37, his voice breaking as a bulldozer destroyed his unfinished three-floor home.

“I had a permit to build from the Palestinian Authority. I thought I was doing the right thing,” he said.

CONSTRUCTION BAN

Israel’s Supreme Court ruled in June that the structures violated a construction ban. Palestinians and rights groups say Israeli building permits are nearly impossible to obtain. The deadline for residents to remove the affected buildings, or parts of them, was Friday.

In a statement, the European Union said the structures, containing some 70 apartments, were in areas under PA jurisdiction and that Israel’s demolition policy in occupied territory was illegal under international law.