in a statement, the representative of the European Union, in agreement with the heads of missions of the European Union countries in Jerusalem and Ramallah, called on Israel to cancel the orders to evacuate Palestinian families in East Jerusalem.
According to the statement, on November 3 and 23, Israeli courts ruled in favor of the evacuation of eight Palestinian families in the Batn Al-Hawa neighborhood in Silwan in East Jerusalem (which affects 45 people, including young children), and the Al-Sabbagh family in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem. (This affects 32 family members, including six children), placing all families at imminent risk of forcible transfer.
On 3 and 9 December, representatives of the European Union and some member states of the European Union visited a number of these families who faced imminent eviction threats in the Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan neighborhoods of East Jerusalem.
In the past several years, the number of eviction decisions has increased in particular in Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan, where entire communities of nearly 200 families are at risk. In Batn Al Hawa alone, 14 families have already lost their homes since 2015, and more than 80 other families are facing eviction orders, as they are at imminent risk of displacement.
The representative of the federation said: The Israeli domestic laws, which form the basis for the allegations of evicting families, do not exempt Israel, as the occupying power, from fulfilling its obligations to administer the occupied territories in a manner that serves and protects the local population. Israel did not acquire sovereignty over the area in the course of its administration.
He stressed that, in line with the established position of the European Union on the Israeli settlement policy, which is illegal under international law, and the measures taken in this context, such as forcible transfers, evictions, home demolitions and home confiscations, the European Union calls on the Israeli authorities to cancel the eviction orders that they intend to implement.
The missions of the European Union countries in Jerusalem and Ramallah recalled the successive conclusions and statements of the Foreign Affairs Council in which the European Union reiterated its strong opposition to the Israeli settlement policy and the measures taken in this context, including the evacuations. This policy is illegal under international law, and its continued implementation undermines the viability of the two-state solution, the prospect of achieving a lasting peace, and seriously threatens the possibility of Jerusalem becoming the future capital of the two states.
