Jerusalem – Ma’an – Israeli bulldozers demolished a four-story house in Jerusalem as reports in the Israeli media announced the approval of construction of 900 new settlement homes in the Israeli Gilo settlement on Tuesday.

Neighbors of Nasry Nassar Al-Husseini said his home, a four-story, multi-family structure in Wadi Qaddoum, south of the Old City of Jerusalem, was destroyed by Israeli bulldozers as the family looked on. The structure was home to 30 Palestinians.

The demolition is part of what Palestinians call an ongoing campaign of Judaizing Jerusalem, including the eviction of Palestinians from their homes, the destruction of Palestinian homes and the continued construction of settlements.

According to the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz, the plan involves the construction of 900 four- and five-bedroom housing units, "in an effort to lure relatively well-off residents."

The plan, given the final okay by Israeli officials, was launched by the Israel Land Administration as part of Gilo's extension. According to the paper, another 4,000 units are proposed in and around the settlement, built in East Jerusalem on land occupied by Israeli forces in 1967.

The paper cited sources in the planning committee that said the eastward expansion of Jerusalem came following the scrapping of a plan by architect Moshe Safdie that would have seen West Jerusalem expand on top of natural and planted forests near Ramot. After criticism by environmental groups, it was scrapped, apparently in favor of a plan to build on Palestinian land instead.

The go-ahead for the Gilo expansion comes only days after a document from the US expressing reservations over construction in Gilo was released. In his Monday report to the General Assembly, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon demanded "that the evictions and demolitions of Palestinian homes should cease."