Colonists occupy strategic building

House is near Hebron’s Ebrahimi mosque which Israel has been trying to Judaise

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered Israeli occupation forces against ousting Israeli families who have occupied a Palestinian house, near the Al Ebrahimi Mosque, in the Old City of Hebron in the West Bank, in a move expected to ignite the region.

Earlier last week, 15 Israeli colonist families moved into the three-storey building, which is owned by the Palestinian Al Rajabi family and is strategically located just south of the mosque.

Emad Hamdan, who heads Hebron Rehabilitation Committee, said Israeli occupation forces were deployed to the area to protect colonists.

The committee and the Al Rajabi family lodged a complaint with Israeli police, demanding that occupation authorities immediately evacuate the colonists from the property by force.

Hamdan said Jewish colonists first raided the house and occupied it in 2012 but were removed by Israeli forces.

They then declared the house a sealed military zone, which was disputed by its Palestinian owners and Hebron rights organisations, through the Israeli courts. No verdict had so far been issued.

The Israeli colonists claim to have purchased the house but have failed in the past five years to provide any documents proving their ownership.

The Israeli Civil Administration, which runs the occupied West Bank on behalf of the Israeli government, set up a special investigative committee to look into the issue, and has found no evidence to support the colonists’ claims.

Earlier this month, the UN’s world heritage body recognised the old city of Hebron and Al Ebrahimi Mosque as Palestinian world heritage sites, sparking outrage from Israel.