Palestinian lawmaker Samira Halayka has warned that the Israeli occupation state is close to converting the Old City of al-Khalil into an Israeli settlement.
“The occupation state is working on legitimizing the appropriation of Palestinian property in favor of settlers and turning the Old City of al-Khalil into a large settlement as a prelude to connecting it with nearby outposts and settlements” MP Halayka said in press remarks.
The lawmaker affirmed that the number of Palestinian citizens in the Old City had decreased significantly which paves the way for the occupation state to convert it into a settlement.
She also pointed out that the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) had already closed a large number of Palestinian stores in the Old City and imposed tight movement restrictions on the Palestinians in the Old City and the roads leading to the Ibrahimi Mosque.
She said that the IOA took advantage of such Palestinian absence in the Old City and brought thousands of Jewish settlers to live in its homes and to launch attacks on the remaining natives to drive them out of the city.
Halayka also talked about the Judaization of the Old City’s streets neighborhoods homes stores and the Ibrahimi Mosque as well as the ongoing excavations and diggings that had been taking place in the Old City for years.
