EU Slams Israel's Illegal Settlement Policy
In a joint statement, the EU Representative and EU Heads of Mission in Jerusalem al-Quds and Ramallah said that on June 29, Israeli authorities demolished a Palestinian shop in Bustan, a neighborhood in Silwan area of occupied East Jerusalem al-Quds.
"Several buildings in the neighborhood have recently been receiving new demolition orders. Currently 20 houses are at imminent risk of demolition, while in Bustan more than 1,000 Palestinians are facing the threat of having their homes demolished."
In the neighboring Batan al Hawa, 86 families are in various stages of eviction proceedings spearheaded by an Israeli settler organization, the statement said, adding that on August 2, the Israeli Supreme Court is expected to announce whether it will allow the appeal request by four of the total 28 families at risk of eviction from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, where a previous ruling to evict Palestinian families had sparked fresh tensions earlier this year.
"Israeli domestic laws, creating the basis for the claims to evict the families, do not exempt Israel, as the occupying power, from meeting its obligations to administer the occupied territory in a manner that provides for and protects the local population," the statement added.
"Israel's settlement policy is illegal under international law," the statement added. "Unilateral actions taken in that context, such as forced transfers, evictions, demolitions and confiscations of homes will only escalate an already tense environment and lead to further violence and human suffering."
"The Israeli authorities should immediately cease these activities and provide adequate permits for legal construction and development of Palestinian communities," the statement read.
Palestinians accuse Israel of pursuing a policy of home demolitions in the Silwan neighborhood, south of the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex, in a bid to oust Arab residents and replace them with Israeli settlers.
In a recent interview with Anadolu Agency, Jawad Siam, the director of the Wadi Hilweh Center, warned that "around 8,000 people are at risk of direct or indirect deportation from Silwan either through the demolition of their homes or through settlement projects."
