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Photos:
Scenes. Published by Maan News
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JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- Large numbers of Israeli forces stormed lands belonging to residents from the Wadi al-Rababa area in the Silwan neighborhood, in occupied East Jerusalem, on Sunday evening.

Eyewitnesses told Ma'an that dozens of Israeli soldiers, settlers and crews from the Israel Nature and Parks Authority stormed lands in the Wadi al-Rababa area in the Silwan neighborhood and began to chop down and uproot trees.

Israeli settlers and soldiers held up an Israeli flag while uprooting trees.

Recently, Israel has been confiscating Palestinian lands in occupied East Jerusalem neighborhoods, in order to gain control of the area to establish an illegal Israeli settlement project under the title of "national parks."

"National parks" are meant to help annex more Palestinian lands to maintain a Jewish majority in occupied East Jerusalem under the pretext of being built for recreational purposes.

Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, commented on the "national parks" plan calling it "illegal and dangerous, as it will deepen Israel's control over Palestinian lands in East Jerusalem."

Silwan is one of many Palestinian neighborhoods in occupied East Jerusalem that is seeing an influx of Israeli settlers. There are eight illegal Israeli settlement outposts in Silwan, the first one being under Israeli settler control since 2004.