Israeli court rules to empty Palestinian building, grant it for settlers

Occupied Jerusalem (QNN)- The Israeli Magistrate’s Court ruled to expel a Palestinian family from their house in Silwan to the South of Al Aqsa mosque, claiming that it belongs to Israeli settlers.

Wadi Hilweh Information Center said that the court ruled on Sunday to empty a residential building owned by Naser Rajabi family in the neighborhood of Batn El Hawa and grant it for the settlement organization “Ateret Cohanim”, claiming that the land, where the building was built back in 1948, is owned by Jews.

The center and the committee of Batn El Hawa said in a joint statement on Sunday that the judge of the Magistrate’s Court rejected an appeal by Rajabi family, who challenged injunctions by the settlement organization issued in 2016. They started ever since a court battle to prove the family’s ownership of the land and building.

The 3-story residential building shelters 16 Palestinians, including children, elderlies, and people with special needs. The statement added that the last court session was in last September. The judge, however, issued his biased decision yesterday.

The statement also added that “Ateret Cohanim” was authorized to administrate the properties, which are claimed to be owned by Jews in 2001. It started issuing injunctions in 2015, ordering 84 Palestinian families to evacuate the neighborhood.

The Rajabi building is one of several other buildings that are targeted by the settlement organization, which plans to grab the property of nearly 2 acres in Batn El Hawa, as the organization claims that they were owned by Yemeni Jews back in 1881.

“Ateret Cohanim” claims that the Israeli supreme court recognized the ownership of Yemeni Jews to the land.

The statement added that the targeted land has 35 residential buildings built on it and all of its residents have been living in the neighborhood for decades after buying the lands from their former owners. They also have the documents, which prove that.

Haaretz reported that the residents were given until July 1 to empty the building.