Palestinian Protesters Firebomb Jewish-Owned Building in East Jerusalem
Image by Getty Images
Palestinian protesters threw firebombs at an apartment building in the eastern Jerusalem Arab neighborhood of Silwan after Jews moved in.
No one was injured in the incident, which occurred late Monday, hours after nine Jewish families moved into the two buildings, Israel Police said, the French news agency AFP reported. No arrests were made.
The families moved into nine apartments late Sunday night, according to reports, bringing to 17 the number of Jewish families living in the neighborhood.
The houses were purchased for the Yemeni Community Committee in deals facilitated by the Ateret Cohanim organization, which buys eastern Jerusalem properties and moves Jews into them, Ynet reported.
A Palestinian man who bought the buildings from their Palestinian owners sold the buildings to the Jewish group, the Palestinian Maan news agency reported. The legal purchase of the buildings is not in dispute. The buildings have stood empty for the last four months, according to Maan.
Late last month, several Jewish families moved into buildings in Silwan, known in Hebrew as Shiloah, that were purchased by an American company and rented to the Jewish families associated with the Elad Foundation. Clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security followed the arrival of the first Jewish families.
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