Israeli settler associations have recently submitted a plan to establish a number of residential towers for settlers in place of Palestinian houses in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in Occupied Jerusalem.
This move came after these settler groups failed to evict 11 Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah under the pretext that the lands on which their homes are built were owned by Israelis before the 1948 Nakba.
Mohammed Dahla the lawyer of the Palestinian families threatened with displacement said that the plan is aimed at demolishing a number of Palestinian homes and obtaining approval for the construction of new residential towers for Israeli settlers.
Dahla told the PIC reporter that the plan was presented to Israel’s Planning Committee for ratification on 20 September 2018 and the Palestinian residents of Sheikh Jarrah were given a 60-day time limit to file objections.
The Palestinian lawyer noted that Israeli settlers constantly intimidate Sheikh Jarrah residents and pressure them to leave the area.
He added that the Palestinians of Jerusalem are completely aware of Israel’s relentless attempts to force them out of the city to pave the way for its Judaization projects.
Israeli settler groups had seized large areas in Sheikh Jarrah and established 25 settlement units on them as part of a plan to isolate the Old City of Jerusalem from the northern neighborhoods of Sheikh Jarrah Shu’fat and Beit Hanina.
