Description

JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- Jewish settlers on Monday attacked a Palestinian family in East Jerusalem, forcing them from their homes, the family said.

Mahmoud Abu al-Hawa told Ma'an the settlers smashed the windows of his home in al-Tur and ransacked his elderly mother's room, causing her to pass out, he said.

An Israeli court has ruled that a relative of al-Hawa sold the home to the Elad settler association, he said.

The 7-member family left their home on Monday fearing further settler attacks, al-Hawa said.

The home is in a building overlooking the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem's Old City. Israeli settlers now control two apartments in the building.

The Elad association is a private Israeli organization which promotes settlement building in East Jerusalem. The US state department in July criticized the group for disregarding the diverse religious history of sites it controls in East Jerusalem.

Israel captured East Jerusalem in 1967 and later annexed it in a move never recognized by the international community. Palestinians seek East Jerusalem as the capital of their hoped-for state.
Print