Israeli settlers seize houses in east Jerusalem

Dozens of Jewish settlers, escorted by heavy police force, took over at least seven empty buildings in the Palestinian neighbourhood of Silwan in east Jerusalem Tuesday.

The buildings are located in the Wadi Hilweh neighbourhood of Silwan, only some 300 metres across from the volatile area of the Al Aqsa Mosque compound and the Jewish Western Wall, Xinhua reported.

A few Palestinian youths hurled stones at the force.

One of them attempted to enter one of the seized buildings, but failed.

Silwan is already home to about 50 Jewish settler families who live there under heavy guard.

Over the past two decades, Elad, a far-right settler group, has taken control of dozens of homes in the neighbourhood.

Palestinians claim the homes were acquired via indirect deals, with the owners not knowing they sold their homes to Jewish settlers.

Silwan is located in east Jerusalem, a territory that Israel captured from Jordan in the 1967 Middle East war and later annexed it in a move which has not been recognised internationally.