Haaretz: 30 Palestinian families face expulsion from Jerusalem

Some 30 Palestinian families face the threat of expulsion from their homes in occupied East Jerusalem as they received eviction notices from Israel’s Land Administration, Israeli newspaper Haaretz revealed yesterday.

Israel’s Lands Administration sent the eviction notices despite having a document from the 1980s proving that the land is owned by Palestinians.

This came following a secret measure carried out by an Israeli court in Jerusalem through which Israel’s Land Administration was given the power to control Palestinian land known as Arab Al-Sawahra.

According to Israeli NGO Ir Amim, most of the Palestinian families who had been asked to leave their homes, live outside the area specified by the court. While documents from the 1980s reveal that the land is owned by Palestinians and no Jewish group has claimed it.

According to Haaretz: “Five generations of the Qunbar family have lived in those homes. Naif Qunbar, 68, said his grandfather bought the land and the family has lived there for 60 years. He has 12 children, six of whom also live there.”

They have been ordered to leave their homes and their orchards.

The area in question borders the illegal Kidmat Zion settlement.

READ: Arabs in Yafa protest against Israel’s plans to evict 1,400 Arab citizens