Israeli court allows land confiscation in Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah

JERUSALEM

Israel’s Supreme Court on Monday approved the confiscation of a Palestinian land in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem, according to a local Palestinian official.

“The court rejected a petition by Palestinian owners of the land against being confiscated by the Israeli Municipality,” Kamal Obeidat, the head of the Jerusalem Chamber of Commerce, told Anadolu Agency.

He said Israeli municipal authorities have been seeking to confiscate the land for the past 20 years.

“This plot of land is owned by four Palestinian families and is used as a parking lot,” he added.

The confiscated land is 4,700 square meters and adjacent to homes of Palestinian families, who are threatened with evictions in favor of Israeli settlers.

Verdicts by Israel’s Supreme Court are final and cannot be appealed.

International law regards both the West Bank and East Jerusalem as occupied territories and considers all Jewish settlement-building activity there illegal.

* Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara