The Israeli occupation continues to commit crimes by evacuating Al-Quds from the Palestinians

Occupied Al-Quds, (ST) -The Israeli occupation entity continues with its crimes against Palestinian people in Al-Quds (Jerusalem), by seizing homes and displacing the Palestinian families from them in flagrant violation of international law and relevant UN resolutions.

The elderly Noura Sub Laban talked about her suffering after the occupation yesterday seized her house near Al-Aqsa Mosque in the old city of Al-Quds (Jerusalem) by saying tearfully, yet bravely: “The Israeli occupation forces and settlers unjustly seized my house, but Al-Quds will remain Arab, our land, homes and soil will remain Palestinian and the occupation will inevitably end and our right will not be lost as long as there is one Palestinian who defends his land”.

Noura, 68, said in a statement to SANA reporter: “In this house, I have memories that extend for more than half a century. Its balcony overlooks Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the occupation wants to seize the houses and real estate surrounding the mosque to encircle it with settlement outposts. The occupation wants to seize history and civilization, the past and the present, but it will fail thanks to the steadfastness of Al-Quds and its residents.”

Raafat, from the Sub Laban family, explained that the occupation, yesterday morning stormed into his house, where the family has kept steadfast in the face of the occupation for 47 years, and broke its doors, assaulted his parents, and the occupation forces expelled everyone by force and did not allow the family to take any of their belongings.

He said: “The occupation wants to uproot all that is Palestinian is from Al-Quds, but we say and assure him that here is Palestine, here is Al-Quds, and we will not leave, and will return to our home, latter or sooner.”

In conjunction with the seizure of Palestinian homes and real estate in Al-Quds, the occupation continues its settlement plans in the city, as it announced a plan to establish a new settlement that includes 450 settlement units in its southeast, amid the absence of any serious move by the international community to stop the occupation practices that amount to war crimes against humanity.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry expressed its deep dissatisfaction with the lackluster international and international reactions towards the crime of forced displacement against the (Soub Laban) family. It also expressed its condemnation towards the continuation of settlement crimes and ethnic cleansing committed by the occupation with the aim of emptying Al-Quds and its surroundings from the Palestinian presence.

For its part, the Ministry of Jerusalem Affairs confirmed that the settlers’ seizure, under the protection of the occupation forces, of the house of the (Sub Laban) family is banditry and ethnic cleansing. It warned that this would be a prelude to the seizure of more Palestinian homes, especially in the old city, the town of Silwan, Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood and other neighborhoods in the city of Al-Quds (Jerusalem).

A spokesman for the people of Silwan, Fakhri Abu Dhiab stated that the new settlement, that the occupation  plans to establish in Al-Quds, aims to cut communication between Palestinian neighborhoods, fragment them, and complete the siege of Al-Quds with a settlement belt that extends from its south to its east.

In his turn, Hassan Khater, Director of the International Jerusalem Center pointed out that the establishment of a settlement between Sur Baher and Jabal Mukaber areas is part of a huge settlement plan that the occupation is implementing within timetables to flood Jerusalem with settlements and complete the process of separating it from the West Bank, so that it becomes difficult to talk about establishing a Palestinian state with Al-Quds as its capital.

Raghda Sawas