Israeli police forcibly evicted three Palestinian families from their homes and assaulted one of the homeowners on Sunday, in the town of Silwan, south of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem.
The Jerusalem Governorate reported that a large police force stormed the Batn al-Hawa neighborhood, deployed throughout the area, after closing the road leading to the neighborhood.
The Governorate added that the Israeli court ordered the seizure of the three homes in order to grant the properties to the “Ateret Cohanim” settlement organization, after ruling that the land belongs to Jewish citizens who emigrated to Palestine from Yemen in 1881.
Ahmad Al-Shweiki, one of the homeowners, said “We had an eviction order from the occupation authorities until October 19, claiming that the land belongs to them, but the family’s lawyer extended the deadline to November 30. However, today we were surprised by the occupation police storming the house and emptying its contents completely.”
Al-Shweiki added that occupation police brutally assaulted him during the process, causing him various injuries.
The Wadi Hilweh Information Center (Silwanic) reported that the seized homes belong to the citizens, Asmahan Shweiki, her son Ahmad, and Juma Awda, all of whom had been living in the houses for decades.
Silwanic added that the elderly Asmahan Shweiki “Um Zuhri” suffered a fainting episode while her home was being emptied of her belongings; she was transported to hospital.
The family stated that they have been living in the homes for decades, with documents proving their purchase of the lands and properties more than 50 years ago.
They said that after Israeli police stormed and searched the properties, stealing undetermined amounts of money, they abducted the young man, Mohammad Shweiki.
It was reported that one of the illegal Israeli settlers performed Talmudic rituals in the vicinity of the homes following the takeover of Palestinian homes for the benefit of Israel’s illegal colonies.
