Nobel peace laureate Mairead Corrigan-Maguire rakes upper echelons in Tel Aviv over the coals, saying they perpetrate "ethnic cleansing".

The 1948 creation of Israel began with a campaign that saw the demolition of Palestinian houses and forced displacement of people native to the land.

Nobel peace laureate Mairead Corrigan-Maguire is the latest international figure to join the calls against Israel's illegal settlement activity in eastern Jerusalem (al-Quds) -- occupied during the Six-Day War of 1967 and illegally annexed by Tel Aviv later.

"I believe the Israeli government is carrying out a policy of ethnic cleansing against Palestinians here in east Jerusalem," she said at a news conference on Tuesday.

"I believe the Israeli government policies are against international law, against human rights, against the dignity of the Palestinian people," said Maguire whose efforts for a peaceful solution to the violence in Northern Ireland earned her the 1976 Nobel Peace Prize.

The remarks come after the Israeli municipality of Jerusalem ordered scores of Palestinians to leave their homes, saying the houses were illegal and lacked permit from Israeli authorities.

It further reported of plans to tear down almost 90 Palestinian homes in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan.

The Israeli decision -- one of the largest single forced eviction orders since 1967 -- is expected to leave up to 1,500 Palestinians homeless.

Earlier in April, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband expressed concern at Israel's razing of Palestinian homes in Jerusalem and urged a joint Palestinian-Israeli ownership of the city, holy to both Muslims and Jews.

Miliband described the situation on the ground in Jerusalem (al-Quds) as very dangerous and like a powder keg, which could crack deep divisions among people.

Meanwhile, Israeli media outlets reported that the new US administration had sent a letter to the mayor of Jerusalem, protesting against the planned demolition.

Silwan is adjacent to al-Aqsa Mosque -- the oldest Islamic structure in the world, where Israelis have been excavating a huge hole under the pretext of archaeological studies.

MRS/SC/AA