The family of Zoheir Rajabi, spokesperson for the Batan al-Hawa neighborhood and director of the community center in the neighborhood, received an eviction order this week effective until May 17, 2026. According to the eviction order issued by the Enforcement and Collection Authority, Zoheir, his brothers, and all their children and grandchildren (a total of 42 people) must vacate their home within approximately two weeks, by May 17, 2026. If they do not leave on their own by that date, the police are expected to forcibly remove them from the house within the following week.
The eviction orders come after settlers affiliated with the Ateret Cohanim organization filed eviction lawsuits, claiming they represent a Jewish trust that operated in the neighborhood at the end of the 19th century and owned the land at that time. Based on this claimed ownership, they are now demanding the eviction of the families. This is despite the fact that the families have proven they legally purchased the homes decades ago and have lived in them without the trust or authorities contesting their ownership.
Zoheir Rajabi with two of his grandchildren at his home in Silwan
Zoheir Rajabi, director of the community center in the neighborhood, who received the eviction order:
“I see myself like a candle that is gradually going out. And it’s hard. You see before your eyes, after 12 years of difficult legal and public struggle, how everything ends. This is the second time we are being removed from our homes. The first time was in 1967 from the Jewish Quarter in the Old City, and now from Silwan. This is the work of the government. It is the one acting to expel us from Jerusalem, and there is no one who can stop it or its racist policy against Palestinians in Jerusalem.”
Peace Now:
“This is a real alarm. If the government does not intervene, and if pressure is not applied to make it intervene, we may see within two weeks more entire families thrown into the street and settlers moving in their place. This is a terrible injustice based on discriminatory laws and the exploitation of the vulnerability and ongoing discrimination against residents of East Jerusalem. The dispossession of Palestinians from their homes in Silwan—homes that there is no dispute were legally purchased by them—through the implementation of a ‘right of return’ for Jews is an indelible stain on the State of Israel. The government can and must stop the forced displacement of an entire community, and the responsibility lies on its shoulders.”
Current situation update (April 2026): approximately 50 families at risk of eviction:
Already evicted – 13 homes with about 42 families (c. 175 people) have already been vacated, and settlers have moved in their place:
In 2015, three homes with about 11 families and approximately 25 people were evicted: the Abu Nab and Sarhan families.
In 2018, the Abu Sneina family (11 people) was evicted.
In 2024, three homes with 7 families and about 28 people were evicted: the Shhadeh family home, the Abu Nab family home, and the Gheith family home.
In 2025, two homes with 6 families and about 37 people were evicted: the Odeh and Shweiki families’ home, and the Umm Nasser Rajabi family home.
In 2026, three homes with 17 families and about 74 people were evicted: the home of Khalil Basbous family and the Yousef Basbous and the Yaqub Rajabi homes.
Enforcement proceedings for eviction – 4 homes with 17 families (c. 100 people):
Requests for permission to appeal submitted by the families of Abd al-Fattah Rajabi (26 people), the Qaed Rajabi families (18 people), and the Zoheir Rajabi families (42 people) were rejected by the Supreme Court. The settlers have initiated enforcement proceedings to evict the families. The home of the Yassin Rajabi family (four families) is also in enforcement proceedings for eviction after the families lost in court without submitting defense statements.
Cases in Magistrate’s Court – At least four additional eviction lawsuits against dozens of families and hundreds of residents are being conducted at various stages in the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court before different judges (the Odeh, Abu Ramuz, Dweik, and Sarhan families).
One Law for Israelis; Another one for Palestinians
The basis for all the lawsuits is the same: the Legal and Administrative Matters Law enacted in 1970 by the Knesset stated that Jews who owned property in East Jerusalem and lost it in 1948 can receive it back from the Israeli General Custodian, even though all those Jewish property owners received alternative homes from the state as early as 1948. This is in contrast to the Absentees’ Properties Law from 1950, which states that Palestinians who lost their property in Israel in 1948 and became refugees would not be entitled to receive it back. Since the Legal and Administrative Matters Law was applied only in East Jerusalem and not in West Jerusalem, it only applies to Jews and not to Palestinians who lost their property in the same war and under similar circumstances.
For more information on the Legal and Administrative Matters Law – see One City, Two Laws, and also here.
International law prohibits the evacuation
In the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) given last July, the court specifically referred to the Israeli settlement policy in East Jerusalem and the discriminatory system of laws, in particular the Absentees’ Properties Law, which results in the eviction of Palestinians from their homes in favor of settlers. The court ruled that this policy constitutes a violation of international law (see for example paragraphs 119, 122, 163, 196 of the opinion).
In one of the Batan al-Hawa lawsuits that reached the Supreme Court, a group of leading Israeli experts in international law filed an application with the court to submit an amicus curiae brief. According to the brief, Palestinian residents’ human right to housing includes the right to continue living in properties that have served as their homes for decades, and they have developed certain property rights in these homes. The brief addresses an approach that has emerged in international human rights jurisprudence, which emphasizes the group vulnerability of occupants facing eviction and institutional, systemic discrimination. Where these are present, in certain circumstances, the occupants’ rights, stemming from the human right to housing and specifically, to live in their home and their family’s home, trump the right of the original owner or their substitute to regain possession of the property.
Much of international law applies fully and directly in Israel and constitutes an integral part of the domestic local legal system. In addition, the courts must interpret Israeli law, to the extent possible, in a manner consistent with international law, even without direct application (we note that the brief does not address international criminal law or the laws of war). So far, all deliberations in cases concerning evictions in Sheikh Jarrah and Batan al-Hawa have focused on questions arising from private law (property, charitable endowments, limitations, protected tenancy, etc.), as if the parties were equal sides in a real estate dispute.
The brief provides a new perspective, uncovering the full picture and the context for the eviction applications: The Palestinian family in question belongs to a vulnerable, discriminated group, both in terms of legal rights and in terms of policy and resources. They are facing an orchestrated effort, with state backing, to dispossess them of their homes. The family entered the properties lawfully (they are not trespassers) and have lived in the houses for generations, in some cases for more than 60 years. In such circumstances, under international human rights law, families have a right to the property where they live, and, if certain conditions are met, that right overrides the original owners’ right to regain possession. Many examples of such cases from around the world are available.
The court read the brief but did not refer to it in its decision. The court returned the discussion of the question of ownership for another discussion at the Magistrate’s Court.
For more on the opinion from international law, see here.
The matter is not legal but political; the government can stop the eviction
The settlers have an interest in presenting the issue as a purely legal matter, of two parties arguing over ownership of the property and the court deciding. But denial and blindfolding are needed to ignore the context and mechanism established to exploit discriminatory laws for the purpose of realizing settlement political goals. This is a political issue with far-reaching implications for the entire State of Israel and the future of the conflict, and the court is only the tool to implement the move. Therefore, the Israeli government has a responsibility and an obligation to intervene.
1. To express a legal position in the Batan Alhawa cases – Although Justice Sohlberg decided not to wait any longer for the State’s position, the government can still express a legal position in the pending cases, according to which the residents of Batan Al-Hawa have rights to continue to live in their homes even though the official ownership belongs to settlers. This position can be based, for example, on international law, which is part of the system of legal considerations in Israel – see the legal opinion submitted on the matter.
2. The government can expropriate the land – the government can expropriate the land for public purposes (while compensating the settlers). Since 1967, the Israeli government has expropriated about a third of East Jerusalem lands to build 55,000 housing units for Israelis. What was done for the benefit of the Israeli public with the expropriation of more than 20,000 dunams from Palestinians, can be done for the benefit of the Palestinian residents of Batan Al-Hawa with the expropriation of 5 dunams from settlers.
3. Change in legislation and policy – the Knesset can correct the injustice caused as a result of the discriminatory law by amending or repealing the relevant sections of the Legal and Administrative Matters Law (1970) on the basis of which all these eviction claims were filed.
4. The immediate way to prevent eviction is to avoid sending the police to assist in evacuation. Without the police, people cannot be evicted from their homes. It is the police who determine the appropriate timing for carrying out various tasks in accordance with the security situation and considerations of public peace. The police can determine that for now, for reasons of security and public safety, the evacuation should be avoided. Such a position has been taken in the past and obtained the approval of the Attorney General (in 1991 when the police prevented the Elad settlers from entering houses in Silwan, and in 1999 in an Attorney General opinion on a property in Ras Al-Amoud). see more here.
Zouheir Rajabi, must vacant his house for settlers by 17/5/26.