JERUSALEM, March 26, 2026 (WAFA) – Israeli occupation forces seized two apartments in the town of Silwan, south of Al-Aqsa Mosque, on Wednesday.

The Jerusalem Governorate reported that occupation forces stormed the Batn al-Hawa neighborhood in the town and seized the apartments of Raafat Basbous and his father, forcibly evicting the family in favor of colonists' organizations. They also detained Raafat Basbous.

The two apartments are located in a four-unit residential building where the family has lived for 63 years.

Last Sunday, occupation forces seized two other apartments in the same neighborhood after breaking in, changing the locks, and installing barbed wire on the windows.

This operation comes amid a marked escalation in the seizure of Palestinian homes in Silwan, particularly in the Batn al-Hawa neighborhood, which has been subjected to a colonists' campaign for years, spearheaded by colonists' organizations.

According to reports issued by the Wadi Hilweh Information Center and the Ir Amim Association, the number of apartments seized or subject to eviction orders in the Batn al-Hawa neighborhood alone has exceeded 80, belonging to dozens of Palestinian families. These seizures are based on legal claims of ownership dating back to before 1948.

The reports indicate that these policies have resulted in the de facto displacement of dozens of Palestinian families from their homes in Silwan, with direct support from the occupation authorities for colonists' organizations, who are provided protection during the seizure operations.

Experts confirm that what is happening in Silwan is part of a systematic policy aimed at altering the demographic reality in occupied Jerusalem and strengthening the colonists' presence around the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

K.T