OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (Palestine Foundation Information Center), Israeli occupation authorities on Sunday approved a plan to seize Palestinian properties in the Bab al-Silsila neighborhood adjacent to the Aqsa Mosque inside the Old City of Occupied Jerusalem, in a move the Jerusalem Governorate warned represents a new settlement escalation aimed at displacing Palestinian residents and strengthening settler control around the Mosque compound.
In a press statement, the Jerusalem Governorate said the decision implements an earlier recommendation approved by Israel’s former Minister of Jerusalem and Heritage to activate a confiscation order dating back to 1968, under what Israel describes as efforts to “enhance Jewish control and security” in the area.
The governorate explained that the plan targets between 15 and 20 historic Palestinian properties stretching along the Bab al-Silsila road. The properties belong to Jerusalemite families and include buildings and Islamic endowments dating back to the Ayyubid, Mamluk, and Ottoman eras.
According to the statement, the Jerusalem Jewish Quarter Development Company will be authorized to carry out the confiscation and expropriation procedures as the body responsible for managing the so-called “Jewish Quarter” inside the Old City.
The governorate stressed that Bab al-Silsila is one of the most important historic routes leading to Aqsa Mosque, saying its targeting is part of a systematic Israeli policy aimed at emptying the area surrounding Aqsa Mosque of its Palestinian residents and imposing new Judaization measures in the Old City.
It added that the targeted area contains major Islamic and historical landmarks, including the Tashtamariyya School. The statement noted that Israeli authorities had already seized around 116 dunums of land in the Old City in 1968 under the pretext of “public benefit,” paving the way for the expansion of the so-called Jewish Quarter from five dunums before 1948 to approximately 133 dunums afterward, mostly through the confiscation of privately owned Palestinian property.
The Jerusalem Governorate emphasized that the decision constitutes a blatant violation of international law and international resolutions concerning Occupied Jerusalem, calling on the United Nations, UNESCO, and international institutions to urgently intervene to stop Israeli Judaization policies and the seizure of Palestinian property in the Old City and around Aqsa Mosque.
