A Child killed in Bethlehem and warnings of displacement of 200 Palestinian families in Jerusalem

Palestinian medical sources announced on Friday evening the martyrdom of 15-year-old child Adham Sayed Saleh Dahman, who succumbed to injuries sustained from Israeli occupation army bullets. The incident occurred during a military raid targeting the Dheisheh refugee camp, located south of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank.

The Ministry of Health clarified that child Dahman was hit by a live bullet in the abdomen, described as very critical, and was immediately transferred to Beit Jala Governmental Hospital. Despite the medical teams' attempts to save his life, he passed away due to the severe injuries he sustained during the confrontations.

With the martyrdom of child Dahman, the number of martyrs in the West Bank on Friday alone rises to three Palestinians, after the martyrdom of two other citizens aged 22 and 46. The other two martyrs fell during raids carried out by occupation forces in Kafr Aqab town and Qalandia refugee camp, north of occupied Jerusalem.

Official statistics indicate a continuous escalation in the number of victims since October 7, 2023, with the number of martyrs in the West Bank reaching 1138. Medical teams also recorded approximately 11,700 injuries, while the number of detainees in occupation prisons exceeded 22,000 Palestinians during the same period.

In a related context, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned of an imminent danger threatening the Palestinian presence in occupied Jerusalem, specifically in Silwan town. The ministry affirmed that approximately 200 Palestinian families are currently facing the risk of forced displacement and imminent eviction from their homes and properties.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs clarified in an official statement that these families include about 900 Jerusalemite citizens, who are facing lawsuits filed against them by extremist settlement associations. The ministry described these associations as terrorist tools aimed at emptying the city of its indigenous inhabitants for the benefit of settlers.

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly criticized the role of the Israeli judicial system, considering that the courts are being used as a legal cover to entrench an illegitimate reality in Jerusalem. It affirmed that these courts grant false legitimacy to the seizure of Palestinian properties and the alteration of the demographic identity of the holy city.

The ministry condemned the escalation of forced evictions, noting the displacement of 15 families from their homes in the Batn al-Hawa area of Silwan town in the past week alone. It also pointed out that the occupation municipality issued immediate and non-appealable demolition orders for seven homes in Qalandia town, further increasing the suffering of the residents.

The Palestinian statement considered that what is happening in Jerusalem falls within a systematic plan to Judaize the city and impose new facts on the ground. The ministry stressed that these measures aim to change the demographic situation in the short term, which necessitates urgent international intervention to stop these violations.

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on the international community and international organizations to take firm steps to prevent the continuation of the policy of forced displacement. It called for activating diplomatic pressure tools on the occupation authorities to ensure the protection of Palestinian rights and the preservation of the status of the holy city.

The ministry also urged the strengthening of international presence on the ground to monitor Israeli violations and provide protection for the Palestinian people under occupation. It affirmed that all occupation measures in Jerusalem are considered null and void legally and have no legitimate effect.

On the ground, human rights sources reported that settlers seized 13 residential apartments in Silwan town last Wednesday, bringing the total number of seized apartments to 15 within four days. These operations took place under heavy protection from occupation forces, which secured the entry of settlers into the properties.

The Wadi Hilweh Information Center stated that Israeli enforcement and execution department teams began emptying the contents of 11 apartments belonging to the Rajabi family to hand them over to settlers. This had begun with the eviction of the Basbous family from two residential apartments in the same area, amidst a state of extreme tension.

It is worth noting that the 'Ateret Cohanim' settlement association had seized two additional apartments in Silwan early last week. These intensive settlement movements come within the framework of right-wing associations' efforts to control the entire Batn al-Hawa neighborhood overlooking the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Israeli courts are used as a tool to entrench an illegal and unprecedented reality and to give it false legitimacy in the holy city.