Israeli settlers seize seven buildings in East Jerusalem

Israeli settlers seized seven building consisting of 22 flats in the town of Silwan, in occupied East Jerusalem, this morning.

Lawyer and Jerusalem Affairs Advisor for the Palestinian Presidency, Ahmed Rwaidy, told the Anadolu news agency that “Israeli settlers seized seven buildings in Silwan under the protection of Israeli police, a form of Israeli aggression on the great city of Jerusalem.”

Rwaidy, a resident of Silwan, said: “A large number of Israeli army and police forces arrived in the early hours of the morning to enable the settlers to take over the buildings.”

“The seized buildings are located in a very sensitive area as it is only 300 meters away from Al-Aqsa Mosque compound,” he explained.

There are approximately 60,000 Palestinians living in Silwan, according Rwaidy, but it is one of the most targeted areas for Israeli settler aggression in East Jerusalem.

He pointed out that “since settlement building began in the neighbourhood in 1991, at least 47 settlement outposts were built.”

The El Ir David Foundation said the settlers were trying to take over Palestinian homes in Silwan in an effort to convert the area into the city of David.

On its website the group said: “Ir David” or the “City of David”, is the actual location of the biblical city of Jerusalem captured by King David over 3,000 years ago.” The foundation “is dedicated to the preservation and development of the Biblical City of David and its environs”, it said on its website.

It was not immediately clear whether the Israeli settlement had gained access to the properties fraudulently or if they had purchased the homes from their owners.

Rwaidy said they are looking into whether “fraud and deception” were used but said “this a tedious process which takes many years in Israeli courts”.