Today, Friday, the European Union announced that 200 Palestinian families face the risk of evacuating their homes in Jerusalem, for the benefit of settlers, calling on Israel to cancel the eviction orders .
This came in a joint statement issued by representatives of the European Union countries in the Palestinian territories . "In the past several years, the number of eviction decisions has increased in particular in Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan (Jerusalem), where entire communities of about 200 families are at risk," the statement said. He noted that the eviction orders "place all families at imminent risk of forcible transfer." In early December, representatives of European Union delegations visited families who faced imminent eviction threats in the Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan areas of East Jerusalem . The statement added, "Israeli domestic laws, which form the basis of allegations of family eviction, 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 ." And he added, "In line with the established position of the European Union regarding the Israeli settlement policy, which is illegal under international law (...) the Union calls on Israel to cancel the eviction orders it intends to implement." And he added, "We recall the conclusions and statements of the European Foreign Affairs Council, in which it reiterated its strong opposition to the Israeli settlement policy and the measures taken in this context, including the evacuations." The Israeli "Peace Now" movement indicates that there are 661,000 settlers in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, which includes 13 settlements, in which 220,000 settlers reside.
