JERUSALEM, Wednesday, December 09, 2020 (WAFA) – Diplomats from the European Union member states and like-minded countries today visited Batan al Hawa area in Silwan in East Jerusalem to meet representatives of eight Palestinian families faced with imminent risk of eviction from their homes by the Israeli authorities, five of them as soon as 18 December.

The Jerusalem District Court two weeks ago rejected an appeal by some of these families against their eviction from their homes in favor of Ateret Cohanim settlement group, which is active in settlement activities in occupied East Jerusalem.

The eviction order affects families living in several buildings in Batan al-Hawa area, a community of 700 people, where Ateret Cohanim claims the land on which these buildings were built is owned by Jews from Yemen since 1881 and therefore started legal action in 2015 to evict their Palestinian dwellers.

The court's decision was based on the "Legal and Administrative Arrangements Law" enacted by the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, in 1970, which stipulates that Jews who owned property in East Jerusalem and lost it in 1948 can take it back from the Israeli public trustee.

"The EU and like-minded reiterated that forced eviction is illegal under international law and is likely to undermine the viability of the two-state solution and the prospects for lasting peace," according to a tweet by the EU in Jerusalem.

T.R.