Israeli forces in Jerusalem have forcibly evacuated the 8-member Girsh family from their Jerusalem home which they have been living in since the 1930s, and handed it over to an Israeli settler group.
The apartment is the 9th to be appropriated by the settler group. In 2010, the group took over eight apartments in the same building.
Palestinian family forcibly evicted from its home in occupied East Jerusalem – OCHA flash update 15/09/2016: https://t.co/JA23IbEmov
— UN DPR (@UNISPAL) September 15, 2016
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement, “The evicted family has been renting this property since the 1930s. The home is part of a larger residential complex comprising nine apartments, eight of which were occupied by Israeli settlers in July 2010, causing the displacement of seven Palestinian households.”
In August 2016, another three Palestinian families, consisting of seven adults and ten children, were evicted from their homes in the Old City under similar circumstances.
Settler group "has been gradually kicking out every single member of the Kirsh family from their homes since 2010" https://t.co/WQi7KoXR1D
— Ben White (@benabyad) September 16, 2016
OCHA noted that “In recent decades, Israeli settler organizations have intensified their efforts to take control of properties in Palestinian neighborhoods of the so-called ‘Holy Basin’ area of East Jerusalem – comprising mainly the Muslim and Christian quarters of the Old City, Silwan, Sheikh Jarrah, and At-Tur (Mount of Olives).”
The international community considers Israel’s measures in Jerusalem illegal under international law. Israel annexed East Jerusalem in 1967 following the Six Day War.
Israel rarely gives permits to Palestinians in Jerusalem to build new houses while it continues to construct new houses for Israeli settlers.
(PC, SAFA)
