An armed Israeli settler is seen walking in Jerusalem’s Old City, part of occupied East Jerusalem [Getty]
Jerusalem’s Palestinian governorate Saturday warned of a “new colonial” Israeli plan to seize dozens of properties near Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem, threatening Palestinian inhabitants.
In a statement, the governorate said Israeli authorities are preparing to approve a plan on Sunday aimed at confiscating Palestinian properties in the Bab el-Silsileh neighbourhood adjacent to the mosque complex, forcefully displacing residents and Palestinian businesses.
The plan includes seizing 15 to 20 Palestinian-owned properties, the governorate said, including buildings and Islamic endowments dating back to the Ayyubid, Mamluk, and Ottoman eras.
Bab el-Silsileh neighbourhood is considered one of the main gateways leading to Al-Aqsa Mosque, and targeting the area is part of broader efforts to impose “Judaisation measures” within the Old City, and empty Al-Aqsa’s environs of its Palestinian residents, the governorate said.
It added that the plan is based on a previous recommendation by Israel’s former Minister of Jerusalem and Heritage, Meir Porush, as well as a government decision dating back to 1968 under the pretext of “strengthening Jewish control and security.”
The governorate described the move as “a dangerous colonial escalation targeting the heart of the Old City, paving the way for a new phase of forced displacement and tighter control over historic Palestinian properties.”
Earlier this week, during the provocative ‘Flag Day’ marches, extremist Israeli settlers, led by a parliamentarian, stormed the Al-Aqsa grounds and performed religious rituals.
Jewish prayers inside the complex are restricted under a long-standing status quo, which ultranationalist Israeli officials have sought to change.
Israel captured East Jerusalem and the West Bank in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and has occupied the territories since, building and expanding illegal Jewish-only settlements.
Many Palestinians want to see these territories as part of a future Palestinian state – an idea Israel’s far-right government rejects.
East Jerusalem’s Palestinian governorate effectively has very little control over the area as the entire city is administered by Israel.
Israeli settler organisations have intensified their efforts in recent years to seize Palestinian properties in East Jerusalem, particularly in the Old City, Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan neighbourhoods, through eviction orders and ownership lawsuits.
It comes against the backdrop of major settlement projects in the West Bank, where Palestinians continue to be uprooted by forced evictions, and scores of them killed and injured in ongoing settler attacks.
The United Nations considers Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories illegal under international law and has warned that they undermine the prospects of a two-state solution.
