UN delegation visits Salem family at risk of expulsion from Sheikh Jarrah

UN delegation visits Salem family at risk of expulsion from Sheikh Jarrah
The UN's Humanitarian Country Team in Palestine met with the Salem family, who are at risk of expulsion from their home in Sheikh Jarrah despite having lived there for 70 years.
2 min read
19 February, 2022
Protesters often gather in Sheikh Jarrah, occupied East Jerusalem [AFP/Getty-file photo]

A delegation of United Nations bodies and other groups visited the flashpoint East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah on Friday, to meet with a Palestinian family at risk of being expelled from their home by Israeli authorities.

The UN's Humanitarian Country Team in Palestine met with the Salem family, who are at risk of expulsion despite having lived in their house for seven decades, according to a UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) press release.

"The United Nations has repeatedly called for a halt to forced evictions and demolitions in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem... under humanitarian law, forcible transfers of protected persons by the occupying power are forbidden regardless of their motive," OCHA said.

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The Salem family has 12 members, including six children and an elderly woman. Settlers have attacked the family and their house with stones and pepper spray.

Their upcoming expulsion has added to the disquiet in restive Sheikh Jarrah.

The UN said that the Salems are one of 218 Palestinian families living in occupied East Jerusalem currently facing the threat of forced eviction by the Israeli authorities.

OCHA asked "all political and community leaders" not to engage in "provocative action and rhetoric" and called on Israel to act to guarantee Palestinian refugees and other civilians are protected.