Jerusalemite officials facing eviction to escalate if their issue not resolved

They said in a press statement to the Palestinian information center (PIC) on Tuesday they would never yield to the Israeli decisions and would stay in their hometown regardless of all circumstances.

Mohamed Totah, one of the lawmakers, affirmed that Israel tried to silence any voice talking about the eviction of Palestinian officials from Jerusalem and spread lies about a signed agreement to end their issue.

“When we visited the UN envoy, he told us that that he was in the US consulate when Sheikh Mohamed Abu Tir was arrested and that he was surprised at his arrest because the occupation forces told him there was an agreement signed with them on stopping to exile the lawmakers, but when he contacted them to inquire, he was told that the agreement did not include Sheikh Mohamed Abu Tir,” Totah explained.

“The representative of the European union told us during his visit to the tent that the occupation forces assured him there was a signed agreement, and our response was clear that they (Israeli occupation forces) have to provide us with a copy of it,” the lawmaker added.

He also said that the Swiss ambassador and other foreign parties received the same Israeli misleading information about the alleged signed agreement, noting that spreading such lies were aimed at absorbing the international pressure.

“Immediately after the news of the agreement, we received a hail of phone calls congratulating us on solving the problem; Our response was that all information regarding an agreement was inaccurate and incorrect and the evidence is that we are still at the Red Cross headquarters in Al-Sheikh Jarrah and we still receive threats of exile from the city,” the MP elaborated.

Israel withdrew the residence permits and IDs of one former minister and three lawmakers, one of them are Mohamed Abu Tir who was arrested while the two others pitched a sit-in tent in the courtyard of the Red Cross headquarters in Jerusalem.

In another context, the land research center in Jerusalem reported it documented 50 attacks carried out by Israeli troops on Jerusalemite citizens during June.

Some of the Israeli violations mentioned in the center’s report were forcing a Palestinian citizen to demolish his home in Aqabat Al-Saraya in the Old City of Jerusalem, issuing demolition orders against 22 homes in Silwan area as a prelude to the demolition of 130 homes there and raiding eight homes.

The report pointed out that Israeli troops helped settlers to lay their hands on the rest of Salah family’s real estate and brought a bulldozer to widen the area in order to bring mobile homes.

Israel also established during the reporting month a dirt wall that led to the isolation of 200 dunums of Palestinian lands in Al-Issawiya area for the benefit of national parks and its bulldozers demolished three agricultural facilities in Silwan area, according to the report.

The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) closed Ilaf charity and its troops raided and sabotaged Beit Hanina sport club. Many physical assaults on Palestinians and one death were also documented in the report.