Despite widespread international criticism, hundreds of zionist gangs, accompanied by bulldozers, started at dawn Monday demolishing homes in the Palestinian town of Sur Baher near the separation wall in Occupied Jerusalem.

Gangs also forced hundreds of residents to leave the neighborhood and declared it a closed zone.

Residents of the town’s Wadi al-Hummus neighborhood told local media on Monday that 16 residential buildings, which hold around 100 apartments, would be demolished.

The zionist terror gangs claim the homes, which are close to the separation barrier that crisscrosses the West Bank and is locally referred to by Palestinians as the "apartheid wall" a security risk.

The zionist terror gang so-called high court of justice ruled in favor of the army last month and set Monday as the deadline for the demolition of the homes — an act Palestinians say will set a precedent for other towns along the route of the barrier, which runs for hundreds of kilometers around and through the occupied West Bank.

According to al-Jazeera satellite channel, the demolitions marked a "very somber and sad day" for many residents.

The channel said that explosives and different types of bulldozers were used to raze the homes.

Palestinians accuse zionists of using security as a pretext to force them out of the area as part of long-term efforts to expand settlements. All settlements in the occupied Palestinian lands are illegal under international law.

They also said that most of the buildings in Wadi al-Hummus area, located inside Sur Baher, are under the Palestinian Authority and civilian control according to the 1993 Oslo accords.

ILKHA