LONDON: Palestinian residents were forced to evacuate three homes in Silwan, a neighborhood in the south of occupied East Jerusalem, on Monday after the ground beneath them caved in, reportedly as a result of decades of Israeli excavations in the area. The Palestinian Authority’s Jerusalem Governorate said a retaining wall collapsed on Sunday and the ground beneath three adjacent homes belonging to the Abu Sbeih family gave way. This resulted in severe structural cracks and the collapse of a room in one of the houses.