Israel Revives 58-Year Plan To Seize Palestinian Properties Near Al-Aqsa Mosque In Jerusalem

Israel is reviving a 58-year-old decision to seize Palestinian properties in Jerusalem’s Old City, reopening a plan tied to Bab al-Silsila Street adjacent to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

“Under the guise of the war in Gaza, Israeli authorities are multiplying demolitions in the Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem”

Blast info

Mondoweiss says the decision was revived after the Israeli Ministry of Heritage recommended that the state-owned Company for the Reconstruction and Development of the Jewish Quarter be given the green light to take over some 50 properties in Bab Al-Silsila.

Blast info

The same Mondoweiss report describes the 1968 decision as including demolition and forced displacement of the Magharbeh (Moroccan) neighborhood in the early days after the occupation of the city in June 1967.

A Palestinian Jerusalem Governorate warning cited by Mondoweiss said the decision to revisit the 1968 confiscation constitutes “an attempt to empty the surroundings of the al-Aqsa Mosque compound of any Palestinian presence,” and stresses Israel is “trying to impose facts on the ground to Judaize the city.”

A resident quoted by Mondoweiss said his family’s house in Bab Al-Silsila dates from the Mamlouk era and that “hundreds of families were forced to leave their homes.”

Jordan’s Palestine Committee condemned Israeli measures to seize Palestinian properties and Islamic endowments in the Bab al-Silsila area adjacent to Al-Aqsa Mosque, with committee chairman MP Suleiman Abdul Aziz Al-Saud saying the committee completely rejected all Israeli measures.

In a statement carried by Middle East Monitor, Al-Saud described the moves as a “clear violation of international law” and a “dangerous attempt to impose a new reality by force.”

France 24

The Jordanian Foreign Ministry also condemned the Israeli plans to confiscate Islamic properties and endowments, reaffirming Jordan’s commitment to the Hashemite custodianship of Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem.

Middle East Monitor reports that the ministry stressed the role of the Jerusalem Waqf and Al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs Department, affiliated with Jordan’s Ministry of Awqaf, in overseeing the affairs of the mosque.

Yaffa News Network similarly frames the seizure as an escalatory measure, quoting Al-Saud warning of “the potential consequences they may have in fueling tensions and worsening the situation.”

A Blast report links the current wave of demolitions in East Jerusalem to the “war in Gaza,” saying Israeli authorities are multiplying demolitions in Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem under that guise.

Blast says “More than 150 buildings have been destroyed there since the start of the year,” and frames the stated objective as pushing Palestinian residents to leave the city.

In the Bab al-Silsila case, WAFA says Meir Porush signed a decree ordering the seizure of several Palestinian properties in the Bab al-Silsila neighborhood on July 20, 2025, describing the area as one of the main access points leading to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Old City of occupied Jerusalem.

WAFA reports that Palestinian authorities of the Jerusalem province denounced the decision as a “colonial and Judaizing step” aimed directly at Palestinian existence at the heart of the Old City, warning it would pave the way for forced expulsions and confiscation of property.

WAFA also says the Jerusalem governorate called for “an immediate mobilization of Palestinian, Arab, and international actors, particularly the United Nations and UNESCO, to enforce international law and protect the heritage and the rights of Jerusalem’s residents.”