SETTLERS SEIZE THREE PALESTINIAN APARTMENTS

Jerusalem, 17 Rajab 1436/6 May 2015 (MINA) – Israeli settlers seized at dawn Wednesday three Palestinian-owned apartments in Silwan town to the south of al-Aqsa mosque under the pretext of the so-called absentee property law.

Under heavy security protection, a group of Israeli settlers stormed at 1 a.m. Maragha neighborhood in the town and confiscated three apartments belonging to Abu Nab family claiming that they were first owned by right-wing Jews, eyewitnesses affirmed, Palestinian Information Center (PIC) quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

The owners were earlier evicted of their apartments as a prelude to the confiscation process, the sources added.

Israeli police forces fired heavy tear gas canisters to prevent local residents from approaching the building.

40 Palestinian housing units in Silwan town were confiscated by Israeli settlers since September 2014.

Meanwhile, Palestinian truck driver escaped a murder attempt by a group of Israeli settlers on Tuesday night while traversing a main road between Nablus and Qalqiliya in the northern West Bank.

Three Israeli settlers had set up a checkpoint on the main road near the illegal settlement Havat Gilad before attacking the driver and spraying gas on his face.

The truck driver, identified as Rajih Nasr Allah from Halhul in the southern West Bank, stopped his truck as he approached the checkpoint believing it was a police checkpoint.

Realizing he had been ambushed, Nasr managed to run away when an Israeli settler tried to stab him. (T/P006/R04)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)