The eviction is part of a decades-long legal struggle between Ateret Cohanim and Palestinian residents. A human rights group that tracks settlement activity called it 'one of the largest evictions that has occurred in East Jerusalem'

by Nir Hasson               26 March 2026                 Haaretz

Removal of belongings from a Palestinian family's home in Silwan on Wednesday. Credit: Itay Cohen

Fifteen Palestinian families were evicted from their homes in Silwan in East Jerusalem on Tuesday and Wednesday after a long legal struggle. Their apartments were transferred to a right-wing organization dedicated to establishing a Jewish presence in East Jerusalem's Palestinian neighborhoods.

Four of the families left their homes in the Batn al-Hawa neighborhood voluntarily, while police forces and private contractors evicted the other 11 families, totaling 65 people. A fire broke out in one of the apartments, and one of the Palestinian residents was arrested on suspicion of arson. In the past year, 35 eviction orders were issued for families in the neighborhood, and all are expected to be carried out in the coming months.

"They came at 9 A.M., entered the house, took the children and women, and put us out on the street," said Jacob Rajabi, who was evicted with his family. "This is the home where I was born, where I got married, raised children – my whole life is there," he added. According to residents, they have temporarily moved into relatives' homes.

Today, expulsion of a Palestinian family in Silwan. Photo: Itay Cohen

The eviction of the families is part of a decades-long legal struggle between the Ateret Cohanim organization and hundreds of Batn al-Hawa residents. 

In 2001, members of the organization became trustees of the Benvenisti Trust – a trust established by philanthropists from the Jewish community in the late 19th century, after purchasing land in Silwan to settle Yemenite Jews. The Yemenite village remained there until 1938, when the British evacuated its residents, claiming it could not be defended amid the Arab Revolt, and the homes were subsequently destroyed. The land, however, remained registered in the trust's name.

Most of the neighborhood's Palestinian residents, who have lived there since the 1960s, claim they purchased the land without knowing it was Jewish-owned. Ateret Cohanim bases its struggle on the Law of Legal and Administrative Arrangements, enacted in 1970. The law allows Jews to claim property belonging to them in East Jerusalem, but does not allow Palestinians who left extensive property in West Jerusalem to do so.

In addition to the eviction in Batn al-Hawa, another neighborhood in Silwan – Al-Bustan, located not far away – is also expected to be evicted in the coming months. Approximately 60 families reside in this neighborhood. Since October 7, 2023, the municipality has demolished35 homes in the neighborhood, and approximately 60 more homes are expected to be demolished in the coming weeks. 

The justification for the eviction and demolition in Al-Bustan is Israel's plan to establish a tourist archaeological park – "The King's Garden" – part of the City of David National Park, managed by the Elad organization, another group which promotes Palestinian displacement by Jewish settlers in East Jerusalem.

Evacuation of a Palestinian family's home in Silwan on Wednesday. Credit: Itai Cohen

Israeli human rights group B'Tselem said after the families' eviction that "under the cover of the Israeli-American attack in Iran, Israel is expanding ethnic cleansing in East Jerusalem and throwing Palestinian families onto the street. The eviction of 11 families currently underway marks the beginning of a wave of mass expulsions." 

The organization added that "this is a reality of institutional and systemic violence, and a clear expression of Israeli policy aimed at engineering the demographic balance and 'Judaizing' the neighborhood through the exploitation of discriminatory laws. These steps are intended to expand Israeli presence and control in one of the most politically and religiously sensitive areas in the region, and they constitute a central component of the widespread ethnic cleansing currently taking place across the West Bank."

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• Two Palestinian families evicted from their homes in East Jerusalem's Silwan Nir Hasson

Ir Amim, which closely tracks settlement activity and demolitions in Jerusalem, added that "this is one of the largest evictions that has occurred in East Jerusalem, and horrifyingly, additional evictions in Silwan may occur soon." 

Aviv Tatarsky from the organization emphasized that "the expulsion of hundreds of residents from the Silwan neighborhood and the settlement that threatens the security of the entire neighborhood are a crime that must be stopped."

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