<p>Aref Hammad's neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem shot to recent world attention, but he fears without continued international pressure he will still be expelled from his home.</p>.<p>"I'm scared that they'll throw us out into the street -- that they'll kick out the whole neighbourhood," said 70-year-old Hammad, who moved to the district as a child.</p>.<p>Hammad is among at least seven Palestinian families waiting for a legal ruling on whether they must surrender their homes there to Jewish settlers.</p>.<p><strong>Read more: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/world-news-politics/jerusalem-evictions-that-fuelled-gaza-war-could-continue-993738.html" target="_blank">Jerusalem evictions that fuelled Gaza war could continue </a></strong></p>.<p>It is a battle Hammad and his neighbours have been waging since the 1970s, but he says lawsuits against them have recently gained pace.</p>.<p>"The situation is really bad," Hammad said, inside the home he shares with 17 relatives, just across the street from a house taken by force from a Palestinian family, now draped with Israeli flags.</p>.<p>On Monday, Israel's attorney general refused to intervene in their case, meaning their last recourse is the supreme court.</p>.<p>Protests early last month at the planned expulsions in Sheikh Jarrah spread to Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound, sparking a crackdown by Israeli security forces.</p>.<p>That triggered an 11-day war between the Jewish state and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, which ended in a ceasefire.</p>.<p>But residents and activists say they face a bleak future if international pressure fades.</p>.<p>"We're urging foreign governments to try to pressure the Israeli government," Hammad said. "There is no justice in their courts."</p>.<p>Like many others, Hammad moved to Sheikh Jarrah after his family fled his home in Haifa in the 1948 war that led to the creation of Israel.</p>.<p>In 1956, when east Jerusalem was under Jordanian control, Jordan leased plots of land to 28 families in Sheikh Jarrah, and the UN agency for Palestinian refugees built homes for them.</p>.<p>Amman promised to register them in their name.</p>.<p><strong>Read more: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/who-says-nearly-2-lakh-palestinians-need-health-aid-after-gaza-conflict-993172.html" target="_blank">WHO says nearly 2 lakh Palestinians need health aid after Gaza conflict </a></strong></p>.<p>But in 1967, Israel occupied east Jerusalem, then annexed it in a move never recognised by the international community.</p>.<p>In 1970, the state enacted a law under which Jews could reclaim land in east Jerusalem they lost in 1948, even if Palestinians by then already lived on it.</p>.<p>No such option exists for Palestinians who lost homes or land.</p>.<p>Another resident, 72-year-old Mohammad al-Sabbagh, said the planned expulsions revealed a broader state-sponsored discrimination.</p>.<p>"What kind of law kicks people, a family, families out of their home after 65 years?" he asked.</p>.<p>"There are two laws," said Sabbagh, the representative of 32 family members in Sheikh Jarrah, whose forefathers once owned homes and an orange grove around Jaffa.</p>.<p>"One law for them that allows them to get back their property, and one for us -- that says it is forbidden to demand ours. It's racism."</p>.<p>Behind the recent lawsuits is settler organisation Nahalat Shimon, which claims Jews held land in Sheikh Jarrah in the 19th century under Ottoman rule.</p>.<p>But lawyer Husni Abu Hussein, who has been representing the families since 1994, said he travelled to Turkey to consult Ottoman archives -- and found no trace.</p>.<p>He said the Turkish foreign ministry gave him a letter ascertaining "the settlers have no right, that the documents they have are forged."</p>.<p>"As long as there is no decision on who the owner is, residents cannot be evicted," he said.</p>.<p>The Israeli government has dismissed the Sheikh Jarrah case as a "real-estate dispute between private parties".</p>.<p>But rights groups say the forced evictions are part of a broader move to drive Palestinians from their homes, in a city coveted by both sides as their capital.</p>.<p>Human Rights Watch, in an April report accusing Israel of "apartheid", described "discriminatory laws and policies" that "enable settler and settler organisations to take possession of Palestinian homes".</p>.<p>Since 1967, Israeli authorities have expropriated nearly one third of the land in east Jerusalem from Palestinians, largely for settlements, it said.</p>.<p>Amy Cohen, of Israeli anti-settlement group Ir Amim, said the slow trickle of eviction court cases was deceptive.</p>.<p>In Sheikh Jarrah and the nearby neighbourhood of Silwan, more than 100 Palestinian families are facing lawsuits at different stages, she said.</p>.<p>"Over 1,000 Palestinians are at risk of mass displacement from these two areas alone," she said.</p>.<p>Ateret Cohanim, another settler organisation behind forced eviction lawsuits in Silwan, says it aims to establish "sovereignty over the whole city" of Jerusalem.</p>.<p>Cohen, of Ir Amim, said the only successful strategy so far to stem ever-growing settlements had been diplomatic pressure.</p>.<p>"International intervention is really the only solution," she said.</p>
<p>Aref Hammad's neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem shot to recent world attention, but he fears without continued international pressure he will still be expelled from his home.</p>.<p>"I'm scared that they'll throw us out into the street -- that they'll kick out the whole neighbourhood," said 70-year-old Hammad, who moved to the district as a child.</p>.<p>Hammad is among at least seven Palestinian families waiting for a legal ruling on whether they must surrender their homes there to Jewish settlers.</p>.<p><strong>Read more: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/world-news-politics/jerusalem-evictions-that-fuelled-gaza-war-could-continue-993738.html" target="_blank">Jerusalem evictions that fuelled Gaza war could continue </a></strong></p>.<p>It is a battle Hammad and his neighbours have been waging since the 1970s, but he says lawsuits against them have recently gained pace.</p>.<p>"The situation is really bad," Hammad said, inside the home he shares with 17 relatives, just across the street from a house taken by force from a Palestinian family, now draped with Israeli flags.</p>.<p>On Monday, Israel's attorney general refused to intervene in their case, meaning their last recourse is the supreme court.</p>.<p>Protests early last month at the planned expulsions in Sheikh Jarrah spread to Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound, sparking a crackdown by Israeli security forces.</p>.<p>That triggered an 11-day war between the Jewish state and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, which ended in a ceasefire.</p>.<p>But residents and activists say they face a bleak future if international pressure fades.</p>.<p>"We're urging foreign governments to try to pressure the Israeli government," Hammad said. "There is no justice in their courts."</p>.<p>Like many others, Hammad moved to Sheikh Jarrah after his family fled his home in Haifa in the 1948 war that led to the creation of Israel.</p>.<p>In 1956, when east Jerusalem was under Jordanian control, Jordan leased plots of land to 28 families in Sheikh Jarrah, and the UN agency for Palestinian refugees built homes for them.</p>.<p>Amman promised to register them in their name.</p>.<p><strong>Read more: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/who-says-nearly-2-lakh-palestinians-need-health-aid-after-gaza-conflict-993172.html" target="_blank">WHO says nearly 2 lakh Palestinians need health aid after Gaza conflict </a></strong></p>.<p>But in 1967, Israel occupied east Jerusalem, then annexed it in a move never recognised by the international community.</p>.<p>In 1970, the state enacted a law under which Jews could reclaim land in east Jerusalem they lost in 1948, even if Palestinians by then already lived on it.</p>.<p>No such option exists for Palestinians who lost homes or land.</p>.<p>Another resident, 72-year-old Mohammad al-Sabbagh, said the planned expulsions revealed a broader state-sponsored discrimination.</p>.<p>"What kind of law kicks people, a family, families out of their home after 65 years?" he asked.</p>.<p>"There are two laws," said Sabbagh, the representative of 32 family members in Sheikh Jarrah, whose forefathers once owned homes and an orange grove around Jaffa.</p>.<p>"One law for them that allows them to get back their property, and one for us -- that says it is forbidden to demand ours. It's racism."</p>.<p>Behind the recent lawsuits is settler organisation Nahalat Shimon, which claims Jews held land in Sheikh Jarrah in the 19th century under Ottoman rule.</p>.<p>But lawyer Husni Abu Hussein, who has been representing the families since 1994, said he travelled to Turkey to consult Ottoman archives -- and found no trace.</p>.<p>He said the Turkish foreign ministry gave him a letter ascertaining "the settlers have no right, that the documents they have are forged."</p>.<p>"As long as there is no decision on who the owner is, residents cannot be evicted," he said.</p>.<p>The Israeli government has dismissed the Sheikh Jarrah case as a "real-estate dispute between private parties".</p>.<p>But rights groups say the forced evictions are part of a broader move to drive Palestinians from their homes, in a city coveted by both sides as their capital.</p>.<p>Human Rights Watch, in an April report accusing Israel of "apartheid", described "discriminatory laws and policies" that "enable settler and settler organisations to take possession of Palestinian homes".</p>.<p>Since 1967, Israeli authorities have expropriated nearly one third of the land in east Jerusalem from Palestinians, largely for settlements, it said.</p>.<p>Amy Cohen, of Israeli anti-settlement group Ir Amim, said the slow trickle of eviction court cases was deceptive.</p>.<p>In Sheikh Jarrah and the nearby neighbourhood of Silwan, more than 100 Palestinian families are facing lawsuits at different stages, she said.</p>.<p>"Over 1,000 Palestinians are at risk of mass displacement from these two areas alone," she said.</p>.<p>Ateret Cohanim, another settler organisation behind forced eviction lawsuits in Silwan, says it aims to establish "sovereignty over the whole city" of Jerusalem.</p>.<p>Cohen, of Ir Amim, said the only successful strategy so far to stem ever-growing settlements had been diplomatic pressure.</p>.<p>"International intervention is really the only solution," she said.</p>