UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres joins senior UN officials in calling on the Israeli authorities to stop the destructions of Palestinian private property in the community of Sur Bahir in East Jerusalem, UNSG spokesman Farhan Haq said in a press briefing on Monday.

Axar.az reports that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres joins senior UN officials in calling on the Israeli authorities to stop the destructions of Palestinian private property in the community of Sur Bahir in East Jerusalem, UNSG spokesman Farhan Haq said in a press briefing on Monday.

UN Humanitarian Coordinator in the occupied Palestinian territory Jamie McGoldrick and two other UN officials in a statement earlier on Monday expressed sadness regarding the demolition of homes in Sur Bahir. UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov in a tweet said Israel must stop such a policy.

"And I can add that the Secretary-General fully supports the statement issued today," Haq said about the UN officials' statement.

The spokesman said that hundreds of Israeli troops entered the Palestinian community on Monday morning and demolished a number of residential constructions on the East Jerusalem side of the separation barrier in the occupied West Bank.

Israel started demolishing houses in the area despite the objections of locals, human rights activists, and the Palestinian authorities who are de jure owners of the village.

The Israelis justify their actions by security considerations and say that the buildings were built too close to the barriers. The demolition warrants were issued based on a military directive of 2011, which prohibits construction within 250 meters (820 feet) of the separation barrier.

The United Nations, the European Union and a number of human rights organizations have repeatedly slammed Israel for doing so, qualifying its moves as discrimination and a violation of international laws. According to Amnesty International's estimates, Israel has demolished over 50,000 Palestinian homes and facilities since 1967.

Besides demolitions of Palestinian houses Israel also continues its settlement activity in the occupied territories of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which is one of the main stumbling blocks of the Israeli-Palestinian settlement. About 600,000 Israelis are living in the Jewish-only housing units in the contested areas.