Hundreds of Palestinian residents in a historic East Jerusalem neighbourhood are confronting the imminent loss of their homes, with many stating they have all but given up hope after decades of legal battles. The community of Batn al-Hawa, less than a mile from Jerusalem's Old City, is at the centre of what could become the largest coordinated expulsion in the occupied area since 1967.
A Family's Legacy Under Threat
Zohair Rajabi, 55, looks out from his balcony towards the iconic dome of the al-Aqsa mosque, knowing his time in the home he has lived in all his life is almost certainly over. His four-storey house was built on land purchased by his grandfather in 1965, and now shelters his extended family, including his mother, brothers, and many children. Two of his relatives are severely disabled.
"Yes I have lost. I have been defeated. I am not only waiting for my home to be taken but for every home here to be taken," Rajabi said. He expects a final legal appeal to Israeli courts to be rejected, which would force all 52 members of his extended family to find new housing, potentially within a month.
Legal Battles and Historical Claims
The threat to Batn al-Hawa stems from long-running efforts by rightwing Israeli organisations, including Ateret Cohanim, to consolidate Israeli control over parts of Jerusalem seized after the 1967 war. These groups argue that much of the neighbourhood sits on the site of a late 19th-century village established under Ottoman rule to house poor Yemeni Jews.
That community was evacuated by British authorities in the 1930s amid rising tensions. A philanthropic trust representing the historical Jewish owners was reactivated nearly two decades ago. Israeli courts have ruled that the trust's prior ownership takes precedence over later purchases made by current Palestinian inhabitants or their ancestors, citing a 1970 law that gives Jewish people the right to reclaim property in East Jerusalem.
Daniel Luria, a spokesperson for Ateret Cohanim, which has placed almost 40 Jewish families in Batn al-Hawa, described the current Palestinian residents as "illegal squatters in properties from which Jews were driven out in the 1930s."
Gaza War Accelerates Displacement
Residents directly link a recent spate of evictions to the ongoing conflict in Gaza. Rajabi stated, "The war is a big factor. If there was no war, maybe you would see only one eviction every 10 years instead of five in 15 months." He believes the conflict has created "an atmosphere of hate" that enables the acceleration of such displacement orders.
The Jerusalem-based NGO Ir Amim warns that Rajabi's family is among 34 families, totalling approximately 175 people, facing "imminent displacement and settler takeover of their homes." Amy Cohen of Ir Amim stated this could lead to "the largest expulsion and coordinated state and settler takeover of a Palestinian neighbourhood in occupied East Jerusalem since 1967."
Political Context and an Uncertain Future
The evictions occur under Israel's most rightwing government in history, which includes ministers deeply committed to expanding Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank. Maintaining a Jewish majority in Jerusalem, where Palestinians constitute about 40% of the one million residents, has been a long-standing aim of successive Israeli governments.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich recently advocated for Israel to annex 82% of the occupied West Bank—a proposal Daniel Luria of Ateret Cohanim said he supported "one thousand percent." Luria added, "The Zionist dream is not over."
For families like the Rajabis, the future is bleak and uncertain. Finding a new home large enough for his family, including three teenage children, will be immensely difficult. Rajabi's 15-year-old daughter, Dahreen, expressed her sorrow: "Every stone here is a memory for me. I am very worried that we will be split up as a family." Her one certainty? "I'm taking my cat with me whatever happens."
