25 US Democrats Slam Sheikh Jarrah Evictions, Urge Pressure On ‘Israel’

By Staff, Agencies

Twenty-five Democratic members of the US House of Representatives sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday, calling on him to pressure the Zionist entity to halt the planned forced eviction of Palestinians in occupied East al-Quds.

"We write to express our deep concern about ‘Israel's’ imminent plan to forcibly displace nearly 2,000 Palestinians in the Jerusalem neighborhoods of Al-Bustan and Sheikh Jarrah," said the letter, led by Representatives Marie Newman and Mark Pocan.

"We call upon the Department of State to exert diplomatic pressure to prevent these acts from taking place," they said in the letter.

The letter cited a report which revealed that an estimated 5,000 Palestinian homes were destroyed by ‘Israeli’ occupation authorities in East al-Quds between 1967 and 2017.

"East al-Quds is part of the West Bank, and, under international law, ‘Israel’ is in military occupation of this territory," said the letter.

Tensions have been running high since a Zionist court last week ordered the eviction of Palestinian families from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East al-Quds, prompting protests by Palestinians and ‘Israeli’ attacks on Palestinian civilians, including worshippers at the city’s holy Al-Aqsa Mosque, one of the holiest sites in Islam.

The latest death toll from ongoing Zionist attacks in the Gaza Strip rose to 83, including seven women and 17 children, with 487 people injured, the Palestinian Health Ministry said Thursday.

Heavy damage has also been recorded across Gaza's residential areas, including the leveling of multistory buildings.

To date, six ‘Israelis’ have been killed in the recent retaliations – five of them in rocket attacks in addition to a soldier killed when an anti-tank guided missile struck his jeep.

The Zionist regime occupied East al-Quds in 1967 and annexed the city in its entirety in 1980 in a move that has never been recognized by the international community.