On Thursday, the Israeli occupation authorities gave 22 Palestinian families until July 7th to vacate their homes in the town of Umm Tuba, located in the Sur Baher area south of occupied Jerusalem, in preparation for the seizure of their lands.
The Jerusalem Governorate reported, according to the Palestinian News Agency, WAFA, that the notices included families living in the Al-Mashahid neighborhood in Umm Tuba, opposite the Har Homa settlement, built on the lands of Jabal Abu Ghneim, with the aim of expanding settlement control in the area.
Jerusalemite citizen Yousef Abu Teir, one of those affected by the decision, said that an occupation court issued an order to evict him and 21 other families, estimated at 180 Jerusalemites, by the seventh of this month.
Abu Tayr affirmed his and the neighborhood's residents' categorical rejection of this decision, saying, "We will not abandon our land and the land of our ancestors, and we will continue to stand firm in the face of attempts at forced displacement."
In a related development, the Palestinian Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs announced Thursday that Israeli occupation forces and settlers escalated their violations against Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem and the West Bank during June.
According to the ministry's statement, Al-Aqsa Mosque witnessed 25 settler incursions and was closed for 11 days under the pretext of "security concerns." The call to prayer was also banned at the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron 89 times, while the occupation forces completely closed the compound for 12 days during the same month.
The statement added that the occupation forces also closed the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem to Christian worshippers for 11 consecutive days, under similar pretexts.
The Ministry of Endowments called on the international community and human rights and religious organizations to urgently intervene to halt these serious violations that undermine freedom of worship and threaten the historical and legal status quo at Islamic and Christian holy sites.
In parallel with the genocide in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army and settlers escalated their attacks in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, resulting in the deaths of at least 988 Palestinians and the injury of approximately 7,000 others, according to Palestinian data.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has been waging a war of genocide against Gaza, including killing, starvation, destruction, and forced displacement, ignoring all international calls and orders from the International Court of Justice to halt it.
The genocide, with American support, left more than 191,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 11,000 missing, in addition to hundreds of thousands of displaced persons and a famine that claimed the lives of many, including dozens of children.
