Israel courts rule to expel 35 Palestinians from Sheikh Jarrah, Silwan homes

Israeli courts have recently sided with Jewish settler groups in ruling to expel nearly three dozen Palestinians from homes in Silwan and Sheikh Jarrah.

The two neighbourhoods are key areas of occupied East Jerusalem where settlers have sought to take over Palestinian properties.

Israeli authorities and settlers have long wanted to strip Palestinian Muslim and Christian East Jerusalem of its ethnic and religious identity and turn it into a Jewish-Israeli area.

Noam Sohlberg, a Supreme Court judge, decided last week that 15 Palestinians must leave their Silwan home, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.

The Israeli court claimed the home was the property of the settler organisation Ateret Cohanim, which obtained the interests of a trust that allegedly purchased the site before the creation of Israel in 1948.

The judge ordered the Shehadeh family, who purchased the building in 1967, to leave by a 1 June deadline, saying they would also have to pay Ateret Cohanim 5,000 shekels ($1,300) in legal fees.

The settler group in 2001 obtained ownership of a trust that allegedly bought land in Silwan in 1899.

Yemeni Jews allegedly lived there until the British, who at the time controlled Mandatory Palestine, evicted them in 1938 because of security conditions.

Israeli law allows Jews to make claims of ownership of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem, and courts have turned property over to settlers.

But Palestinians expelled from their homes in West Jerusalem and areas within Israel are unable to recover their properties.

Separately, the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court ruled on Monday that 20 Palestinians from the family of Saleh Diab would have until 17 July to leave their Sheikh Jarrah home.

The judge also decided that the settler group Nahalat Shimon was owed 80,000 shekels ($21,000).

Haaretz reported that "right-wing activists" had obtained the interests of a Jewish group that allegedly held ownership before 1948.

Diab said his family of 20 has been living in the property since 1955.

He told The Associated Press he was shocked by the decision and thought his family was protected under a 2022 Supreme Court decision that halted the planned evictions of four other Palestinian families in the same area.

The judge accepted that the property belonged to Nahalat Shimon because of Islamic Sharia court affidavits from 1896, Haaretz reported.

He decided that the settler group was also entitled to claim further amounts from Diab's family for the use of the building.

Sami Eshied, a lawyer for the family, said the court's decision was in error because it has no legal or factual basis. An appeal would be made with the district court, he said.

He alleged the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court declined to hear witnesses and did not examine the evidence.

Agencies contributed to this report.