Israel condemned for eviction of Palestinian family in Sheikh Jarrah

Israel has been condemned by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas for the eviction of a Palestinian family in Sheikh Jarrah, Al Watan Voice has reported.

An official statement from the president’s office described the attempted eviction of the Salehiyah family from their home in Sheikh Jarrah as “forced expulsion” which is a “flagrant violation” of international and humanitarian law. “As such, international intervention is needed urgently to protect the Palestinian people and to rein-in Israel and its criminal policies.”

Israeli occupation forces placed a cordon around the house of Mahmoud Salehiyah in Sheikh Jarrah early on Monday morning. The family were told to leave so that the house could be demolished.

Salehiyah climbed onto the roof of the house and refused to move. After 10 hours, with the family still in their home, reported Safa, the Israeli forces withdrew from the area.

READ: Palestinian threatens to set himself on fire over Israeli eviction order

The Salehiyah family was originally expelled from their house in the West Jerusalem neighbourhood of Ein Karem in 1948 during the Zionist ethnic cleansing of the village. They bought a new house in the 1950s in Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood, about a decade before Israel occupied and annexed — illegally — the area. Now, the Israeli-run Jerusalem Municipality is trying to expel them yet again.

The office of the PA president said that the Israeli escalation against Palestinian homes in occupied Jerusalem coincides with the state’s policy to build a new settlement for “illegal Jewish settlers”. It called for the US to put an end to the Israeli escalation; hailed resilience of the Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah; and thanked EU representatives and other diplomats who visited Sheikh Jarrah in solidarity with its residents.