An Israeli court has issued mass eviction orders targeting dozens of Palestinian families in the Silwan neighborhood, south of the blessed al-Aqsa Mosque.

The move threatens to forcibly displace nearly 300 Palestinian residents from their ancestral homes in favor of extremist settler organizations.

According to local sources, the latest orders cover 37 apartments in the Baten al-Hawa area of Silwan, placing entire families under immediate threat of expulsion. The orders are spearheaded by the notorious settler group “Ateret Cohanim,” which falsely claims ownership of five dunums and 200 square meters of land in Silwan based on fabricated documents dating back to 1881.

The plan targets 30 to 35 residential buildings, home to nearly 600 Palestinians who have lived in the neighborhood for decades with official documents proving their residency.

Zuheir Rajabi, head of the Baten al-Hawa neighborhood committee, said that 26 homes housing around 250 Palestinians received fresh eviction notices on Sunday. He added that an additional 11 apartments belonging to the Rajabi, Yaqub, Nidal, and Fathi families are now under imminent threat, endangering around 60 more people.

Rajabi condemned the campaign as “a policy of forced displacement and ethnic cleansing aimed at erasing the Palestinian presence in Jerusalem and replacing it with settlers,” vowing that residents “will never leave their homes willingly and will resist until the very last moment.”

The Basbus family, whose homes shelter 30 Palestinians, also received eviction notices. Family member Bilal Basbus described their struggle as a “battle for existence” against decades of demolition threats and eviction attempts. “Our grandparents were driven from al-Dawayima by Zionist militias in 1948. Now, their descendants face the same injustice in Silwan,” he said, emphasizing the family’s refusal to comply with occupation dictates.

These latest measures are part of Israel’s broader Judaization scheme, which systematically seeks to uproot Palestinians from Jerusalem and transform the holy city into a settlement hub under exclusive Israeli control. Human rights defenders have repeatedly warned that such actions constitute war crimes and blatant violations of international law.

Palestinian activists and community leaders are calling on the international community to urgently intervene, stressing that silence in the face of Israel’s aggressive expansionist policies only emboldens the occupation to accelerate its ethnic cleansing of Jerusalemites. (ILKHA)