JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Palestinian families facing eviction from their Jerusalem homes turned down an Israeli court compromise on Tuesday in a long-running legal battle with Jewish settlers, a member of one of the families said.
“The people of Sheikh Jarrah rejected the settlement proposal,” the family member and social media activist Mohammed El-Kurd tweeted, referring to the East Jerusalem neighbourhood where the homes are located.
In May, the dispute over the possible eviction of four Palestinian families fuelled tensions in Jerusalem that sparked an 11-day war between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip.
The families had petitioned Israel’s Supreme Court to hear their appeal against a lower court ruling in favour of settlers who say their homes were built on land once owned by Jews.
Facing eviction, the families considered a Supreme Court compromise to offer them “protected” status in exchange for recognising settler ownership.
(Reporting by Maayan Lubell, Zainah El-Haroun and Stephen Farrell; Editing by Jeffrey Heller)
