The Central Israeli Court is scheduled on Wednesday to hear a petition filed by Palestinian families in Batn Al-Hawa neighborhood in Silwan town, south of Al-Aqsa Mosque against the decisions to expel them from their homes for the favor of the settlers.

A member of the Committee for the Defense of the Lands of Silwan, Fakhri Abu Diab, told Safa that the residents of the neighborhood had filed a lawsuit to the Israeli Court to stop their eviction from their homes. Accordingly, the court will today consider the petition submitted by the residents and it is expected to decide the ownership of the lands to the settlers.

Dozens of Jerusalemites organized a sit-in yesterday evening in the solidarity tent in the neighborhood, in protest against the occupation's attempts to forcibly displace them from their homes.

About 51 families in Batn al-Hawa, including 720 Jerusalemites, are facing the same fate that continues to face the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, which is threatened with forced eviction and the attempt to displace its residents from their homes and lands.

The Ateret Cohenim settlement organization seeks to control 5 dunams and 200 square meters of the Al-Hara Al-Wusta neighborhood in Batn Al-Hawa, under the pretext that it has been owned by Jews from Yemen since 1881.

The importance of the Batn al-Hawa neighborhood is that it is adjacent to the Al-Bustan neighborhood, and evacuating it constitutes a prelude to the demolition of Al-Bustan and many neighborhoods in Silwan town, south of Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Source : Safa