UN Experts Warn Against the Cleansing of Jerusalem from Its Palestinian Identity

SadaNews - UN experts have warned that Jerusalem is facing irreparable damage due to the accelerating Israeli measures aimed at changing its demographic composition, religious character, and legal status.

The experts stated in a released statement that Israel, "under the guise of an existential war against the Palestinians, is accelerating measures that alter the demographic composition of Jerusalem, its religious character, and its legal status, destroying what remains of the pluralistic fabric that the city has represented for centuries for Muslims, Christians, and Jews."

They added that what is being committed against Jerusalem, as a global symbol of spiritual coexistence and shared heritage, could lead to irreversible changes.

The experts highlighted the increase in extrajudicial killings, large-scale demolitions, and forced displacement in occupied East Jerusalem, along with the restrictions imposed by the occupying authorities through checkpoints and closures, leading to the separation of the city from its Palestinian surroundings and isolating communities from their social, cultural, economic, and religious lives.

They clarified that these measures undermine the rights of Palestinians to self-determination and development, noting that punitive policing practices and systematic interference in freedom of worship aim to drive Palestinians to leave the city.

The experts stated that these measures "are not security measures, but elements of a systematic project for demographic engineering and hegemony to entrench exclusive Jewish control."

The statement noted that the scale of Israeli actions in Jerusalem is "shocking," as reports indicate that 144 Palestinians were killed in the Jerusalem governorate between 2021 and 2025, with at least 11,555 people arrested amidst allegations of arbitrary detention and ill-treatment.

Additionally, the occupying authorities issued 2,386 deportation orders and carried out more than 1,732 demolition and land leveling operations, at a time when many residents were forced to demolish their homes themselves under the threat of fines or imprisonment.

The experts pointed out that 33 Bedouin villages home to more than 7,000 Palestinians face the risk of forced displacement due to repeated demolition operations and land confiscation, in addition to depriving residents of natural resources, leading to the loss of their livelihoods and forcing many to leave.

They added that discriminatory Israeli legislation feeds these policies, preventing Palestinians from reclaiming properties they lost between 1947 and 1949, while allowing Israeli Jews to reclaim them, and reinforcing confiscation measures supporting ongoing evacuations in Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan.

The experts affirmed that international humanitarian law and human rights law prohibit the confiscation of private property and the forced displacement of protected populations, indicating that these acts constitute serious violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention and may amount to war crimes.

They also warned of the deteriorating access of Palestinian children to education, following legislations obstructing the work of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and violating its sanctity, including in East Jerusalem.

The statement pointed out that repeated military incursions and the increasing presence of settlers have led to harassment, arrests, and wide restrictions on Palestinian access to holy sites, noting that 73,871 settler incursions into the Al-Aqsa Mosque courtyards were recorded during 2025.

The experts also noted that Christian communities are facing assaults and restrictions, especially during religious rituals.

They stressed that the restrictions imposed on access to holy sites, particularly during Ramadan, severely diminish Palestinians' ability to practice their religious lives.

The experts urged the international community to take immediate action, especially after the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice which affirmed the illegality of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories, calling on states to refrain from recognizing or supporting the occupation and to work collectively to end it.

They concluded by warning that erasing the richness of Jerusalem's communities, heritage, and rights cannot be restored, stressing that international inaction is not neutrality but complicity.