The Palestinian Authority on Monday condemned the demolition of several buildings illegally erected in the east Jerusalem of Sur Baher.
The high-rise buildings were built only a few hundred feet from the security fence, making them a security risk as well, the IDF said.
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Livid, the Palestinian Authority said the demolition was tantamount to a "war crime" and constituted "ethnic cleansing," The Jerusalem Post reported.
"This is a crime of ethnic cleansing carried out by the Israeli occupation authorities on Monday morning against 16 buildings containing nearly 10 housing units in Wadi al-Hummus in the village of Sur Baher, south of the occupied city of Al-Quds," a statement from Ramallah said.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called on the international community "to provide international protection to the Palestinian people and to bring to justice the leaders of the occupation for their crimes."
An official statement called the demolition a "massacre" perpetrated as part of the US President Donald Trump's "deal of the century," which Abbas decried as seeking to "eliminate the Palestinian issue."
PA Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh said the demolitions in Wadi al-Hummus were in violation of international and humanitarian laws.
The Palestinian Authority said it plans to request a special meeting of the UN Security Council on the issue, as well as seek action against Israel at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
Israel is not part of the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC. The PA joined it in 2015.
Abbas' spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said the Palestinian leadership plans to hold "a series of important meetings in the next few days to take fateful decisions regarding our relations and agreements signed with Israel."
In recent years, Abbas has frequently threatened to sever ties with Israel and annul the 1993 Oslo Accords.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the Palestinian leadership "is putting in place mechanisms to cancel all agreements signed between the PA and the Israeli side."
The European Union condemned Israel's actions, saying they undermine the "viability of the two-state solution."
