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Photos:
Sheikh Jarrah scene. Published by IMEMC News
Palestinian driver, Shaher Abu Khadija, 41. Published by IMEMC News
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by IMEMC News
May 16, 2021

Israeli sources claimed, on Sunday afternoon, that a Palestinian man ran his car into an Israeli military checkpoint at the entrance of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem, injuring seven of them, two in critical conditions.

Israeli soldiers opened fire at the car; the Palestinian driver, Shaher Abu Khadija, 41, is from the neighborhood of Kafr Aqeb north of Jerusalem.

Shortly after the accident, Israeli soldiers attached Palestinian nearby homes and fired tear gas bombs and stun grenades into them.

While the Israeli army claimed the young man tried to ram soldiers at a roadblock with his car, eyewitnesses said Shaher was speeding, was surprised by the soldiers, and tried to swerve to avoid them.

The soldiers also abducted two Palestinians and took them to an unknown destination.

Sheikh Jarrah is the neighborhood in East Jerusalem where the current flare-up began. At least 28 families, (about 550 indigenous Palestinians) live in Sheikh Jarrah and are facing eviction and displacement from their homes they inhabited more than 48 years ago.

Despite allegations by the illegal Israeli colonialist settlers of ownership of the Palestinian homes, the government of Jordan provided Israel with official deeds proving their ownership of the properties.

However, Israel’s government and colonialist groups, are ongoing with their attempts to control more Palestinian lands, for the benefit of its illegal colonialist activities, especially to link the neighborhood with other nearby colonies.