The Occupation Government Decides to Evacuate Palestinian Buildings in Jerusalem

SadaNews - The occupation army's radio reported that the Israeli government, for the first time since the June 1967 war, has approved the confiscation of properties on Al-Silsilah Street within the Old City of Jerusalem, in preparation for the evacuation of about 50 buildings inhabited by Palestinian Muslim residents, with the aim of settling settlers there.

The Israeli occupation authorities officially approved a plan today, Sunday, to seize Palestinian properties in the Bab Al-Silsilah neighborhood adjacent to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Old City of occupied Jerusalem, a step described by the Jerusalem Governorate as a serious colonial escalation aimed at displacing the Jerusalemite population and reinforcing colonial control over the surroundings of Al-Aqsa.

According to the decision, the Jewish Quarter Development Company in Jerusalem will be authorized to carry out the confiscation and expropriation operations, as it is the body responsible for managing what is known as the "Jewish Quarter" within the Old City.

The Jerusalem Governorate stated in a press release that the decision comes in implementation of a previous recommendation approved by the so-called former Minister of Jerusalem and Heritage in the occupation government, to activate a confiscation order dating back to 1968, under pretexts related to what is called "enhancing Jewish control and security" in the area.

It added that the plan targets between 15 to 20 historical Palestinian properties located along the Bab Al-Silsilah road, which belong to Jerusalemite families, and contain buildings and Islamic endowments dating back to the Ayyubid, Mamluk, and Ottoman eras.

The Governorate stressed that the Bab Al-Silsilah neighborhood is considered one of the most important historical pathways leading to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and that targeting it falls within a systematic Israeli policy aimed at emptying the surroundings of Al-Aqsa from its Palestinian residents and imposing new Judaizing realities within the Old City.

It pointed out that the targeted area includes prominent historical and Islamic landmarks, including the Tashtimiyah School, and clarified that the occupation authorities had confiscated about 116 dunams of land from the Old City in 1968 under the pretext of "public benefit", which formed the basis for expanding what is called the "Jewish Quarter" from five dunams before 1948 to about 133 dunams later, most of which was through the confiscation of private Palestinian property.

The Jerusalem Governorate affirmed that the decision represents a blatant violation of international law and international legitimacy resolutions regarding the occupied city of Jerusalem, calling on the United Nations, UNESCO, and international institutions for urgent intervention to stop the policies of Judaization and the confiscation of Palestinian properties in the Old City and in the vicinity of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.