Tension in East Jerusalem over possible eviction Palestinian families

Record ID: 1615091

  • Title: Tension in East Jerusalem over possible eviction Palestinian families
  • Date: 6th May 2021
  • Summary: JERUSALEM (MAY 6, 2021) (REUTERS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** VEHICLE BURNING OUTSIDE ISRAELI SETTLERS' HOUSE IN SHEIKH JARRAH, EAST JERUSALEM ISRAELI POLICE STANDING IN FRONT OF VEHICLE BURNING ISRAELI FIREFIGHTERS ARRIVING AT SCENE ISRAELI FIREFIGHTERS AND POLICE AT SCENE FIREFIGHTERS PUTTING OUT FIRE PALESTINIANS WATCHING SCENE OF BURNING FIRE (SOUNDBITE)
  • Embargoed: 20th May 2021 23:56
  • Keywords: Israel Jerusalem Palestinians West Bank settlement
  • Location: JERUSALEM
  • City: JERUSALEM
  • Country: Jerusalem
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
  • Reuters ID: LVA001EBTSYTJ
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Scuffles between Israeli forces and Palestinians took place in an East Jerusalem neighbourhood on Thursday night (May 6) over possible the eviction of Palestinian families.
    Israeli police said they had arrested nine people for disorderly conduct or assault as settlers faced off with Palestinian protesters in what have become nightly clashes.
    A Reuters reporter saw a car ablaze near a home taken over by settlers. It was not immediately clear who torched the car.
    Israel's Supreme Court is due to hear challenges next week to the evictions of Palestinians ordered by a lower court that found in favour of settlers' claims. Human rights groups say the ruling if upheld, could set a precedent for dozens of more homes.
    A far-right Israeli lawmaker, Itamar Ben-Gvir, said he was setting up an office in the neighbourhood - known to some Jews as "Simon the Just," after an ancient high priest buried there.
    "I came here because children and women are being attacked every evening, who are afraid to leave the house. Unfortunately, the police are not receiving the right orders," Ben-Gvir said.
    France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Britain urged Israel on Thursday to halt settlement-building in the West Bank.
    The joint statement came as tensions simmered around East Jerusalem, another territory Palestinians seek for a future state, where Jewish settlers backed by an Israeli court have taken over some homes in the neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah.
    "We urge the government of Israel to reverse its decision to advance the construction of 540 settlement units in the Har Homa E area of the occupied West Bank, and to cease its policy of settlement expansion across the Occupied Palestinian Territories," the European nations said in a joint statement.
    "If implemented, the decision to advance settlements in Har Homa, between East Jerusalem and Bethlehem, will cause further damage to the prospects for a viable Palestinian State, with Jerusalem as the capital of both Israel and a Palestinian State," they said.
    Israel captured East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in a 1967 war. It deems all of Jerusalem its capital, a status that has not won international support.
    (Production: Sinan abu Mayzer, Suheir Sheikh, Stephen Farrell)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2021. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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