Evictions expected in East Jerusalem

Ma’an -- Large numbers of Israeli police officers deployed in the East Jerusalem town of Silwan on Sunday morning, with residents worried that the move came ahead of a police evacuation of the home of Abdullah Abu Nab.

Director of Wadi Hilwa Information Center Jawad Siyam said the beefed-up police presence followed several detentions overnight, at least half a dozen young men were taken into Israeli custody, he said.

Member of the local committee to defend Silwan's Al-Bustan neighborhood Fakhri Abu Diab, said there were no developments in the case of the Abu Nab family, as Israeli media speculated that the eviction about to take place was of an illegal settler home in the same area.

...A statement by Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat published in the Israeli news site Ynet hinted at a double eviction, saying that if the settler organization attempting to take over the Abu Nab home insists on evicting the family, he will "make sure that the residents of Beit Yehonatan [sic] are evicted."

....In a Sunday afternoon update, Haaretz wrote, "It now appears that at the same time that Jewish occupants are evicted from Beit Yonatan, police intend also to evict dozens of Palestinians from a nearby building so that it can be turned over to Jews." Read more