The U.S. on Wednesday vetoed an attempt at the UN Security Council to condemn the demolition of 10 Palestinian residential buildings on Monday by Israeli forces in East Jerusalem, diplomats said. 

Kuwait, Indonesia and South Africa circulated a five-paragraph draft statement to the 15-member Security Council on Tuesday, stating the demolition "undermines the viability of the two-state solution and the prospect for just and lasting  peace."

Such statements have to be agreed by consensus, the U.S. council representative rejected both the first draft and the later on a revised one.

Three Palestinian families were evicted by the Israeli police and soldiers during the demolition process, along with local and international activists, before the armed forces razed several multistory buildings that contain up to 100 apartments.

According to Israeli government, most of the homes destroyed were under construction, which was deemed illegal and posed a security risk to its West Bank separation barrier, where no house was allowed to build within a 250-meter vicinity.  

Wadi al-Hummus in the Sur Baher neighborhood southeast of Jerusalem, where these "illegal" houses were built, received permits from the Palestinian Authority, which officially controls the area under a 1993 agreement. 

UN called on Israeli government to halt the action as 17 Palestinians, including nine children, faced displacement. 

Though these 17 Wadi al-Hummus residents will receive support from the UN, "no amount of humanitarian assistance can replace a home or cover the massive financial losses sustained today by the owners," said a statement from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. 

Activists concern it's only the start for the Israelis authorities to demolish Arab buildings along the West Bank separation barrier, which could be 720 kilometers long when complete, while the Palestinians worry that the the action was to clear the Arab neighborhoods in the area and expand Israeli settlements. 

The U.S. has long accused the UN of anti-Israel bias and shielded its Middle East ally from Council action.

The demolition of the Palestinian homes is not new for West Bank, where the Palestinians want to set up a state and claim East Jerusalem as its capital. 

The Israelis soldiers destroyed Palestinians' houses in 2015 after the bloody uprising against Israel in the early 21st century. 

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh described the destroying action as "war crime and a crime against humanity" and said the Palestinians would complain to the International Criminal Court.

As U.S. President Donald Trump promotes its "deal of the century", his staff Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt and other advisers have worked hard in the past two years trying to deliver a peace plan that can facilitate the communication between Israel and Palestine.

(With input from Reuters and The Washington Post)