OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (Palestine Foundation Information Center), The Israeli municipality in Occupied Jerusalem has notified Palestinian residents of its intent to seize 1,100 square meters of land in al-Bustan neighborhood in Silwan district, south of the Aqsa Mosque.
In a statement on Sunday evening, the Jerusalem Governorate said that the Israeli municipality claimed the land would be used for the construction of a garden and a parking lot, citing an allegation by its head Moshe Leon that this area is classified as “vacant land” under the 1987 local councils law.
The Governorate warned that this measure “represents a legal manipulation clearly aimed at blocking citizens from utilizing their lands or applying for construction permits, especially after a series of systematic demolitions that recently targeted the area.”
The Governorate accused the Israeli occupation regime of seeking to create a legal cover for its land grabs and silent ethnic cleansing campaign in the holy city.
According to the Governorate, this Israeli step is part of a measure taken by the Israeli municipality earlier this month, when they notified Jerusalemite citizens of its decision to seize about 5.7 dunums of their land in al-Bustan neighborhood under the same pretext.
The Governorate emphasized that the land described by Leon as “vacant” is, in fact, strewn with the rubble of Palestinian homes that were forcibly demolished, whose owners have been barred from rebuilding or utilizing them. It asserted that the municipality deliberately misrepresented the reality of the land to legitimize its seizure.
The Governorate rejected the municipality’s claim that its land seizure would be a temporary five‑year measure, stressing that on‑the‑ground realities and the lived experiences of Jerusalemites reveal the Israeli occupation’s intents to entrench a permanent settlement presence that obstructs Palestinian urban growth, particularly following the demolition of 35 homes and structures in the neighborhood since October 7, 2023.
