Israeli Court Ratifies Eviction of 87 Palestinians from East Jerusalem Homes

The East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan with the Dome of the Rock in the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in the background (AFP/file photo)
The East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan with the Dome of the Rock in the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in the background (AFP/file photo)
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Israeli Court Ratifies Eviction of 87 Palestinians from East Jerusalem Homes

The East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan with the Dome of the Rock in the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in the background (AFP/file photo)
The East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan with the Dome of the Rock in the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in the background (AFP/file photo)

Israel's Jerusalem District Court ratified on Thursday the eviction of 87 Palestinians from the Batan al-Hawa area in Silwan in favor of the Israeli settler group Ateret Cohanim. This falls under the continuous Israeli procedures aiming at Judaizing the occupied East Jerusalem.

Ateret Cohanim had sued the residents of Batan al-Hawa, claiming that the land was owned by Yemeni Jews during the Ottoman period until 1938, when the British Mandate moved them due to political tensions.

The Palestinians responded that they feel like refugees in their own country. They added that before 1948, they owned lands and properties in Jerusalem, however, the Israeli authorities prohibit them from returning there.

Hagit Ofran, activist and director of the Peace Now's Settlement Watch team, expressed real concern that the settlers might attempt to implement the eviction order in the coming days before US president-elect Joe Biden takes office on Jan. 20.

Ofran ruled out Biden’s capability of hindering the process, but hoped that it would be on his agenda.

Minister for Settlement Affairs Tzachi Hanegbi also announced that the Israeli government intends to go ahead with plans to legalize dozens of illegal Jewish settlements in the West Bank, many of which are built on privately-owned Palestinian land.

Peace Now affirmed that Benyamin Netanyahu's government is racing against time to ratify the construction of thousands of settlement units in the occupied Jerusalem and West Bank during this period.

In this context, Likud MK and former Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat has launched a plan to tighten the grip on Palestinian lands in terms of expanding the construction of settlements and industrial zones in the West Bank and the Jordan Valley.



UN Agency Says Israel Shuts 4 Schools in East Jerusalem

A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
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UN Agency Says Israel Shuts 4 Schools in East Jerusalem

A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees says Israeli forces raided four of its schools in east Jerusalem, ordering their closure.

Israel has severed all ties with the agency, known as UNRWA, and bars it from operating in its territory. It says the agency allowed itself to be infiltrated by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, allegations denied by UN officials.

UNRWA said police entered a training center by force on Tuesday, firing tear gas and sound grenades and ordering its evacuation. It said 350 students and 30 staff were present during the raid on the Qalandiya Training Center.

It said police and city officials ordered the closure of three other schools in east Jerusalem, two of which proceeded with the school day.

Israeli police spokesman Dean Elsdunne said police did not enter the UN buildings and that Jerusalem municipal authorities carried out the closures. He said police were deployed to protect the city workers, using “riot dispersal” means in one case where a crowd threw stones at them outside a UN facility.

Roland Friedrich, UNRWA director for the occupied West Bank, including east Jerusalem, said the raids were an “unacceptable violation of United Nations privileges and immunities,” and a “denial of the right to education for children and trainees.”