Settlers seize the home of the Shweiki family in the Batn al-Hawa neighborhood

SadaNews - Israeli occupation forces evacuated the home of the elderly Jerusalemite Asmahan Shweiki "Umm Zahra" in the Batn al-Hawa neighborhood of Silwan, south of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem today, Sunday, and handed it over to settlers, amid a heavy presence of occupation forces in the area.

Local sources reported that the elderly Asmahan Shweiki was taken to the hospital after her health deteriorated following the invasion of her home and her expulsion from it, a scene that sparked widespread anger in Jerusalem.

Following the evacuation, a settler performed Talmudic rituals around the house, under heavy protection from the occupation forces.

The Jerusalem Governorate stated that the occupation forces closed the roads leading to the neighborhood in preparation for the evacuation of three homes belonging to the Shweiki and Awda families, including the home of the elderly Umm Zahra and her son, in addition to the home of citizen Jumaa Awda, in favor of the settlement organization "Ateret Kohanim."

The governorate added that this step comes despite the fact that the occupation court had set the evacuation date for the twelfth of this month, indicating that the occupation expedited the execution of the decision forcibly before its scheduled date.

The Jerusalem Governorate affirmed that these settlement decisions are being used as a tool for forced displacement and seizing the homes of Jerusalemites in the neighborhood for the benefit of the "Ateret Kohanim" organization, which claims that about five dunams and 200 square meters of land in the Batn al-Hawa neighborhood belong to Jews coming from Yemen since 1881.

The governorate considered that this step comes despite the fact that the occupation court had issued a ruling to evacuate the families by the twelfth of this month, with the eviction to be forcibly executed on the thirty-first of the same month if the families do not vacate voluntarily.

The Batn al-Hawa neighborhood is home to about 750 Jerusalemites from 87 families, all of whom are threatened with eviction as part of a Judaization plan overseen by settlement organizations with the support of the occupation government, in an attempt to forcibly displace Jerusalemites and expand settlement outposts in the heart of Silwan.