'Ratcheting tensions' between Israel and Palestine

Brushing aside international criticism, Israel demolished a Palestinian house in East Jerusalem in the latest in a series of actions that critics say is ratcheting up tensions in the city.

Ammar Hudidon, a resident of the Jebel Mukaber neighbourhood and a father of seven, said a bulldozer flattened his home yesterday after the Jerusalem municipality said he lacked building permits.

Palestinians complain that the permits are virtually impossible to obtain. A municipality spokesman stressed that the demolition was "conducted completely under the auspices of the Interior Ministry and the government of Israel" and was not ordered by Mayor Nir Barkat.