Israel evicts Palestinian family from E. Jerusalem home

JERUSALEM, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) — Israeli police on Wednesday evicted a Palestinian family and demolished their home in East Jerusalem’s flashpoint neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah.

At least 18 people were arrested, according to a statement issued by the Jerusalem police.

The eviction of the Salhiyeh family began on Monday, but residents and human rights activists refused to leave the house and declared a standoff. After people took to the roof of the house and threatened to blow it up with cooking gas tanks, police officers withdrew from the scene.

The police returned early Wednesday morning and evicted the inhabitants, according to the police. The building was later demolished by a bulldozer. On social media platforms, images and video footage show a mound of concrete rubble mingled with clothes and furniture.

Several people were arrested “on suspicion of disobeying a court order, violent fortification, and disturbing public order,” the Jerusalem Municipality and Israeli police said in a joint statement.

According to the Hebrew-language Ha’aretz newspaper, activists and witnesses said Israeli police used excessive force and stun grenades to evict the residents.

The Jerusalem Municipality said it expropriated the plot where the house stood, in an area of East Jerusalem that Israel seized in a 1967 war and later annexed, to build a school for East Jerusalem children with special needs.

The house “has been blocking the construction of a school that would benefit the children of the entire Sheikh Jarrah community,” said a statement from the Jerusalem Municipality.

The eviction order, which was first issued in 2017, was challenged by the Salhiyeh family, but their appeals were rejected by several Israeli courts including the Jerusalem District Court.

The Salhiyeh family claimed to have lived in the property for decades and had bought it prior to Israel’s 1967 capture.

Dozens of other families in East Jerusalem are facing similar eviction to make way for Israeli settlements.

East Jerusalem is seen by Palestinians as the capital of their future state. Following the 1967 war, Israel annexed East Jerusalem and considers it part of its capital. Most of the international community has never recognized the annexation and considers the Israeli settlements in this area a violation of international law.

In 2017, then U.S. President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, sparking a deadly wave of violence between Israelis and Palestinians.

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