Israel settlers install CCTV on occupied house in Sheikh Jarrah

Israeli settlers who have taken over a Palestinian home in the occupied East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah have installed surveillance cameras facing the homes of Palestinians who are fighting eviction to make way for more settlers.

The move comes after far-right Israeli lawmaker, Itamar Ben Gvir, and right-wing politician who currently serves as Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem, Aryeh Yitzhak King, stormed the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood along with dozens of settlers under the heavy protection of occupation forces, provoking the Palestinian residents.

According to Wafa news agency, local residents managed to fend off the settlers who attempted to break into land belonging to the Salem family; one of the families that are threatened with forced expulsion from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah.

More than 500 Palestinians living in 28 houses in the neighbourhood are facing threats of forced expulsion at the hands of settlement associations, backed by the Israeli government and its judiciary system, which recently issued a decision to displace seven families.

Jewish settler groups claim the Palestinian homes were built on land owned by Jews before 1948, claims which official Jordanian and UN documents refute.

The United Nations Special Coordinator for the peace process in the Middle East, Tor Wennesland, last month, called on Israel “to cease the advancement of all settlement activities immediately,” describing the move as a “flagrant violation of UN resolutions.”

Referring to the evictions carried out against Palestinian families in the Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan neighbourhoods of occupied East Jerusalem, Wennesland called on the occupation authorities “to end the displacement and eviction of Palestinians, while enabling them to build legally and address their development need.”

Jerusalem: Jewish settlers attack Palestinian residents of Sheikh Jarrah

The UN official also expressed his “continued concern” over the “deteriorating security situation in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.”

Extremist Israeli settlers’ violence against Palestinians and their property is routine in the West Bank and is rarely prosecuted by the Israeli authorities.

They often coordinate their raids and assaults against Palestinians with Israeli occupation forces, who provide them with cover and protection.