Palestine: Israel hands evacuation orders, seizes homes in Silwan

Israeli occupation authorities issued evacuation orders on Wednesday to Jerusalem resident Khalil Basbous and his son Bilal, requiring them to leave their homes in the Batn al-Hawa neighbourhood of Silwan, south of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, by the fifth of next month. The orders were issued in favour of the settler organisation Ateret Cohanim, which claims the land as “Jewish-owned”.

Local sources said eight members of the family, including children, live in the two homes. The step is part of a policy aimed at removing Palestinian residents from the neighbourhood to allow for settlement expansion. There are real fears that the family will be displaced and lose their right to housing.

In the same area, settlers, under the protection of Israeli forces, seized the homes of brothers Nasser and Aayed al-Rajbi and their mother. The settlers raised the Israeli flag over the houses after the family was forcibly evicted days earlier, also in favour of Ateret Cohanim.

Batn al-Hawa has witnessed a rise in forced evictions and home seizures as part of wider settlement plans that aim to change the demographic character of the area and impose a Zionist reality by force, in clear violation of international law and UN resolutions.