Israel has demolished buildings in an area of annexed east Jerusalem located near some of the city's most important holy sites, prompting anger from Palestinian residents, activists and foreign governments.
"They are trying to break us," said Fakhri Abu Diab, a resident of Silwan neighbourhood where Israeli police forces on Wednesday demolished a cultural centre and a protest encampment, citing unauthorised construction.
They were located in Silwan's Al-Bustan area, near Jerusalem's Old City that is home to multiple religious sites, and where Israeli settler activity has intensified in recent years.
"It is from here that messages to our community and to the world emanated," said Abu Diab, whose home, along with several others, was destroyed in another demolition last week.
He said the Israelis "wanted to cut off the head" of the anti-settlement movement in east Jerusalem, which Israel occupied in 1967 and later annexed in a move not recognised by the United Nations.
Anti-settlement group Ir Amim said that "this area has for years been under concerted state and settler pressure due to the historical assets within its bounds and its proximity to the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount and the Old City", in reference to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third most holy site in Islam.