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Photos:
Scene. Published by Maan News
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JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli settlers took over a historical Palestinian building in the Aqbat Darwish neighborhood of Jerusalem's Old City, in the central occupied West Bank, early Thursday morning.

Official Palestinian Authority (PA)-owned Wafa News Agency reported that residents of the neighborhood were shocked by Israeli settler seizing the building in the early morning hours of Thursday.

Israeli settlers reportedly moved into the building, belonging to the Judeh family; the building was used as a clinic.

On Wednesday, Israeli settlement group Elad had taken over a Palestinian-owned property in the Silwan neighborhood of the city.

The Wadi Hilweh Information Center reported, in a statement, that dozens of Israeli settlers raided a Palestinian-owned building in the Wadi Hilweh neighborhood of the town, under armed security by Israeli forces.

There are an upwards of 300,000 Israeli settlers residing in East Jerusalem, with at least 500 living in Silwan among a population of 45,000 Palestinians.

The presence of Israeli settlers in occupied Palestinian territory is considered illegal under international law according to the Fourth Geneva Convention, a fact reaffirmed in a UN Security Council resolution condemning Israel's settlement policy which passed in December.