UN envoy urges ‘Israel’ to cease demolitions and evictions in Jerusalem

Jerusalem (QNN)- The UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Tor Wennesland has expressed serious concern over Israel’s eviction of Palestinian families from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, saying such developments “are very worrying.”

In a statement issued on Thursday, the UN envoy said, “I am deeply concerned by the surge in tensions and violence in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan.”

He added, “In the past few days alone, two Palestinians, including a woman and a child, were killed in separate incidents, by Israeli security forces (ISF) in the context of clashes or attacks.”

The US envoy also reiterated that Israeli occupation forces “must exercise maximum restraint and use lethal force only when strictly unavoidable in order to protect life. Perpetrators of violence on all sides must be held accountable and swiftly brought to justice.”

He also stated, “The latest developments related to the eviction of Palestine refugee families in Sheikh Jarrah and other neighborhoods in occupied East Jerusalem are also very worrying.”

The UN envoy urged the occupation state of ‘Israel’ to cease demolitions and evictions, in line with its obligations under international humanitarian law.

“I call on political, religious and community leaders on all sides to stand firmly against violence, incitement and inflammatory rhetoric. If unaddressed, the situation could spiral out of control,” he added.

Dozens of Palestinians are facing imminent eviction from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah, in a move to force them out and replace it entirely with an Israeli settlement.

The court ruled at least six families must vacate their homes in Sheikh Jarrah on Sunday, despite living there for generations, to make way for a new Israeli settlement known as Shimon HaTsadiq.

However, the Court on Sunday gave the Palestinian families until Thursday to reach a deal with Israeli settlers regarding the ownership of their homes.

The deal proposed by the court requires the Palestinian families to pay the Israeli settlers to rent their homes until the current owners pass away and then assign the properties to the settlers, not to their heirs.

The families refused this proposal, considering it a recognition of the claimed demands of the settlers.

In February, the Court also rejected an appeal by four Palestinian families living in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood against their eviction from their homes. The court upheld the eviction order, and it gave the four families until May 2 to implement the eviction decision.

The same court ruled seven other families should leave their homes by August 1.

The Court decided today to postpone the ruling regarding the eviction of the families till May 10.

The Palestinian families from the Sheikh Jarrah told the Supreme Israeli Court today that no compromise has been reached with Israeli settlers concerning land and house ownership claims by the latter.

Sami Irsheid, the lawyer of Sheikh Jarrah families, said he had submitted to the court a notification that no agreement was made with the settlers concerning their alleged ownership claims, and said the families were waiting for the court’s ruling concerning the matter at any time today or later on.

He said the court will also look into another appeal request from three other families whose eviction is scheduled for the July 1.

A plan for the settlement, consisting of 200 housing units on 18 dunums, has already been submitted to the Israeli municipality in Jerusalem.

In total, 58 people, including 17 children, are set to be forcibly displaced to make way for Israeli settlers.

In 1972, several Israeli settler organisations filed a lawsuit against the Palestinian families living in Sheikh Jarrah, alleging the land originally belonged to Jews.

These groups, mostly funded by donors from the United States, have waged a relentless battle that resulted in the displacement of 43 Palestinians in 2002, as well as the Hanoun and Ghawi families in 2008 and the Shamasneh family in 2017.