International agencies call Israeli demolition of Palestinian homes illegal

JERUSALEM — Israel drew sharp international rebuke Monday after its forces began demolishing residential buildings in a neighborhood of East Jerusalem that, according to a 1993 agreement, is under the control of the Palestinian Authority.

Hundreds of Israeli police officers and soldiers arrived in the Wadi al-Hummus neighborhood in the predawn hours, forcibly evicting three Palestinian families and local and international activists before razing several multistory buildings containing 70 to 100 apartments, most of them still under construction.