Israeli occupation authorities on Wednesday demolished Palestinian stores in Hizma town, northeast of Jerusalem, according to local sources.

An Israeli police patrol escorted bulldozers to the main access road in Hizma town, where 10 commercial structures belonging to Palestinians were reduced to mounds of rubble.

The demolished facilities are sources of livelihood for 13 Palestinian families.

The structures were first demolished some two months ago purportedly for being built in an area under Israeli control.

At the same time, Israeli authorities demolished a commercial structure in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Hanina.

Israeli officers cordoned off the area, preventing news reporters from accessing it. They brutally assaulted members of the Kiswani family who attempted to prevent the demolition, and detained a member.

Using the pretext of illegal building, Israel demolishes houses on a regular basis to restrict Palestinian expansion in occupied Jerusalem.

At the same time, the municipality and government build tens of thousands of housing units in illegal settlements in East Jerusalem for Jews with a goal to offset the demographic balance in favor of the Jewish settlers in the occupied city.

Although Palestinians in East Jerusalem, a part of the internationally recognized Palestinian Territory that has been subject to Israeli military occupation since 1967, they are denied their citizenship rights and are instead classified only as "residents" whose permits can be revoked if they move away from the city for more than a few years.

They are also discriminated against in all aspects of life including housing, employment and services, and are unable to access services in the West Bank due to the construction of Israel's separation wall.

According to a report by the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, the Israeli High Court could be liable for war crimes for their policies that led to the dispossession of Palestinians from their properties in Area C of the West Bank.

The report, Fake Justice, shows that the court’s support of Israeli planning policy is tantamount to support for dispossession and forcible transfer of Palestinians, a war crime under international law.