JERUSALEM, June 24, 2025 (WAFA) – The Jerusalem Governorate on Tuesday slammed the Israeli Supreme Court orders evicting two Palestinian families in Jerusalem’s neighborhood of Batn al-Hawa as a ‘systematic act of ethnic cleansing’.
The Jerusalem Governorate said in a press statement that it “considers the unjust ruling issued by the so-called Israeli Supreme Court—which rejected the appeals of the Odeh and Shweiki families against eviction orders from their homes in the Batan al-Hawa neighborhood of Silwan, in occupied East Jerusalem, in favor of the extremist settler organization “Ateret Cohanim”—as a new chapter in the ongoing series of forced displacement measures carried out by the Israeli occupation authorities against Palestinian residents of Jerusalem.”
The Governorate stressed that “these actions aim to replace them with settlers and impose a new demographic reality that blatantly violates international law and the resolutions of international legitimacy, particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention, which explicitly prohibits the forcible transfer of populations in occupied territories.”
It warned of “the severe humanitarian and social consequences of expelling families from their homes, stressing that the targeting of Batan al-Hawa is not limited to the mentioned families. Rather, it is part of a systematic plan to seize control of the entire neighborhood, where approximately 84 Palestinian families, comprising nearly 700 individuals, are facing arbitrary eviction lawsuits,” while noting that “to date, eviction orders have already been executed against 16 families.”
The Governorate further noted that “the latest rulings affect five homes, currently housing 27 Palestinian families, totaling 131 individuals, most of whom are children, with no alternative shelter available—highlighting the scope of the humanitarian catastrophe intended for the entire neighborhood.”
It affirmed its “absolute rejection of all forms of forced eviction and systematic displacement targeting Palestinian residents of Jerusalem, all of which constitute war crimes requiring international accountability.”
It held the Israeli occupation authorities fully responsible for “the psychological, social, and material harm that may befall these families as a result of their expulsion.”
It called on the international community, foremost the United Nations and the Security Council, to “intervene immediately to halt these colonial and displacement policies and to work toward ensuring international protection for the residents of Jerusalem.”
It reaffirmed that “the Jerusalem Governorate will continue to pursue all legal, political, and media avenues necessary to stop these crimes and thwart all Judaization and settlement plans in the city.
It emphasized that “what is happening in Batan al-Hawa constitutes a systematic act of ethnic cleansing that will not be forgotten or legitimized by the passage of time,” while reiterating that “Jerusalem and its Palestinian neighborhoods will remain a symbol of steadfastness and resistance, no matter how great the challenges.”
K.F.
