More than one hundred Israeli soldiers turned up at Nureddin Amro’s home at 5:30 in the morning last Tuesday, accompanied by bulldozers and dogs. It quickly became clear that the soldiers had one item on their agenda: demolition.

Nureddin tried to reason with the soldiers, only to be told “you cannot negotiate with us,” he said.

“We tried to oppose it [the demolition], but they pushed all of us inside the house and started to hit the kids and the women,” he added. “They started to beat us and to point their weapons at us.”

Twelve people lived in the Amro house in the Wadi al-Joz neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem.

They included Nureddin and his brother, Sharif, both of whom are blind, their wives and seven children, all under fourteen years old. When the family did not immediately leave the house, a soldier threatened them and said he would demolish the house while they were still inside, Nureddin said.

– Read more: Israel Destroys Home of Blind Brothers in East Jerusalem – Electronic Intifada