At approximately 5:30 am this morning, Sunday, August 2, a truckload of heavily armored police raided the homes of the Hanoun and Al- Ghawe families in Sheikh Jarrah, evicting the families and international and Israeli solidarity activists staying there. After months of legal haggling and eviction order after eviction order, the final eviction was carried out very quickly. Israeli police blasted open the gate to the two homes, blew open the doors and broke holes in the windows. Within minutes, large forces entered the house, ordering the family members and international and Israeli activists out at gunpoint. Those that refused the orders were dragged out by force. Reportedly 7 international activists and 1 Israeli activist were arrested on the spot. As they were taken away in handcuffs they reported seeing the Jewish settler families being ushered in by the police, who quickly began moving out the remaining possessions of the Palestinian families who had lived in the homes since they were constructed with the help of the UN Refugee Works Agency.

At the same time, the protest tent that was constructed when Um Kamel Al-Kurd and her family were evicted from their home in Sheikh Jarrah, also for the benefit of Israeli right-wing settlers, was demolished once again.
A third house in Shekih Jarrah is still under threat of eviction, but was not included in this morning’s action.