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Tunisia’s Anti-terrorism Police Detain Former PM Larayedh

Ali Larayedh (C) Secretary General of the Tunisian party Ennahda and former Tunisian prime minister speaks while surrounded by his supporters, upon his arrival for questioning by anti-terrorism police, in Tunis,Tunisia, 19 September 2022. (EPA)
Ali Larayedh (C) Secretary General of the Tunisian party Ennahda and former Tunisian prime minister speaks while surrounded by his supporters, upon his arrival for questioning by anti-terrorism police, in Tunis,Tunisia, 19 September 2022. (EPA)
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Tunisia’s Anti-terrorism Police Detain Former PM Larayedh

Ali Larayedh (C) Secretary General of the Tunisian party Ennahda and former Tunisian prime minister speaks while surrounded by his supporters, upon his arrival for questioning by anti-terrorism police, in Tunis,Tunisia, 19 September 2022. (EPA)
Ali Larayedh (C) Secretary General of the Tunisian party Ennahda and former Tunisian prime minister speaks while surrounded by his supporters, upon his arrival for questioning by anti-terrorism police, in Tunis,Tunisia, 19 September 2022. (EPA)

Tunisia's anti-terrorism police detained for one day Ali Larayedh, a former prime minister and senior official in the Islamist opposition Ennahda party, after an investigation into suspicions of sending extremists to Syria, lawyers said on Tuesday.

In the same case, the police postponed the hearing of Ennahda leader and speaker of the dissolved parliament Rached Ghannouchi to midday on Tuesday, after waiting for about 14 hours.

It is expected that Larayedh will appear before a judge on Wednesday, lawyer Mokthar Jmayi told Reuters.

"We are shocked. The file is completely empty and without any evidence", Samir Dilou, another lawyer said.

Ennahda denies accusations of terrorism, calling it a political attack on a foe of President Kais Saied.

Ghannouchi, 81, has accused Saied of an anti-democratic coup since he seized most powers last summer, shutting down the parliament and moving to rule by decree, powers he has largely formalized with a new constitution ratified in a July referendum.

Last month, several former security officials and two Ennahda members were arrested on charges connected to Tunisians traveling to fight for extremist groups.

Security and official sources estimated that around 6,000 Tunisians traveled to Syria and Iraq last decade to join radical groups including ISIS. Many were killed there while others escaped and returned to Tunisia.

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Israel Demolishes Seven Palestinian Homes in East Jerusalem

A picture shows a view of the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex (top L) across from the Arab town of Silwan on the hill with its al-Bustan neighborhood (C) in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem on November 5, 2024. (AFP)
A picture shows a view of the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex (top L) across from the Arab town of Silwan on the hill with its al-Bustan neighborhood (C) in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem on November 5, 2024. (AFP)
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Israel Demolishes Seven Palestinian Homes in East Jerusalem

A picture shows a view of the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex (top L) across from the Arab town of Silwan on the hill with its al-Bustan neighborhood (C) in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem on November 5, 2024. (AFP)
A picture shows a view of the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex (top L) across from the Arab town of Silwan on the hill with its al-Bustan neighborhood (C) in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem on November 5, 2024. (AFP)

Municipal workers began demolishing seven homes in occupied east Jerusalem's Silwan neighborhood on Tuesday, Palestinian residents and the municipality said, after an Israeli court called their construction illegal.

"This morning the Jerusalem Municipality, with a security escort from the Israel police, began its enforcement against illegal buildings in the Al-Bustan neighborhood in Silwan," Jerusalem's Israeli-controlled city hall said in a statement.

Activist Fakhri Abu Diab, one of those affected by the demolition, confirmed that "at least seven homes have been demolished, and the operation is ongoing".

He said that both houses and apartments were affected.

"They demolished my home, which I had renovated after it was previously demolished earlier this year, as well as my son's house, Haitham Ayed's family home, and four homes belonging to the Al-Ruwaidi family," Abu Diab told AFP.

He said around "40 people, including children, were affected by the demolitions in the neighborhood, leaving them homeless".

An AFP photographer saw at least four bulldozers operating on Tuesday at demolition sites in the neighborhood under tight Israeli police supervision.

In a statement, Jerusalem city hall pointed to court orders that call for the demolition of the buildings due to zoning laws that make them illegal.

However, Palestinian residents and activists accuse the municipality of concealing its true intentions.

"The buildings, like most of the buildings in the neighborhood, are located on an area that is a green designation, that is, an open public area and where there is no possibility for zoning," the municipality said, adding that the area would become a green zone instead.

Abu Diab said the true aim of the demolitions was "to reduce the percentage of Arabs and alter the demographic composition of Jerusalem in favor of (Israeli) settlers", connecting them to west Jerusalem.

Israel "is above international law, has escaped accountability, and is exploiting global focus on the wars in Gaza and Lebanon and the US elections", he said.

Israel occupied east Jerusalem in 1967 and later annexed it in a move not recognized by the international community.

Some 230,000 Israeli settlers live in east Jerusalem, according to the United Nations. Another 3,000 live in Palestinian neighborhoods within east Jerusalem's boundaries, according to Israeli rights organization Peace Now.