Published by Ir Amim, August 2025
On Thursday August 7, settler activists submitted a request for a building permit. If granted, the planned construction will result in the eviction of a Palestinian family in Sheikh Jarrah.
In addition, last week the District Committee published two decisions advancing settlement projects in Palestinian neighborhoods: an Ultra-Orthodox dormitory school (yeshiva) in Sheikh Jarrah and the Nofei Rachel settlement in Um Tuba.
Settlers affiliated with American-registered company Debrali Inc. have begun the process of obtaining a building permit. If granted, the ensuing construction would allow them to tear down the home of the Saou family in Um Haroun, Sheikh Jarrah and replace it with a new building containing three housing units. This is despite the fact that the Saou family have a status of protected tenants.
If the building permit is approved, Debrali Inc. will be able to evict the five members of the Saou family for the purported purpose of beginning construction. According to Israeli law, the family may deserve some compensation for the eviction due to their protected tenants’ status, but they cannot prevent the construction or eviction.
Objections to the building permit can be submitted to the Jerusalem Municipality’s Local Committee until September 2. Since building permits are under the authority of the Local Committee, the issue will not be discussed at the District Committee.
This is the first attempt to evict Palestinians with protected tenancy status under the guise of urban renewal (pinoi binui). In the past, protected tenancy status successfully protected certain families in Sheikh Jarrah from attempted evictions.
If settlers successfully evict the Saou family as part of an “urban renewal” project, this can set a dangerous precedent for other many other Um Haroun residents. Settler activists are already preparing to request a building permit which will allow them to tear down an additional building in Um Haroun and evict its Palestinian residents. Almost all the other homes in Um Haroun are threatened by an urban renewal plan which is in the preliminary stages of its approval process.
Background on Saou family and the threat against it
The Saou family built their home before 1967, on land leased from the Jordanian Custodian, and has been living there ever since. In 2006, the building’s plot was registered to Debrali Inc., a company registered in Delaware, U.S.A. and affiliated with settler activist Chaim Silberstein. The company acquired the property through the Israeli discriminatory law which allows Israelis to reclaim property in East Jerusalem which they claim belonged to them prior to 1948 but prevents Palestinians from reclaiming property within the Green Line which they lost in the same war.
After an attempt to evict the Saou family failed, Silberstein initiated a plan which would tear down the home in order to replace it with a new larger building (TPS14151). The plan was approved in 2019, which made him immediately eligible to apply for the required building permit. The fact that this is taking place only after six years perhaps indicates the extent to which Israel is using the distraction generated by its actions in Gaza as a cover to advance bold settlement plans that were less feasible before October 2023.
District Committee advances plan for a religious Yeshiva in Sheikh Jarrah
The District Committee has decided to republish the plan after modifications were made. Once published, the public has 30 days to submit objection sregarding the modifications.
As explained in a previous Ir Amim alert, the yeshiva plan was frozen 5 years ago by the District Committee. It was renewed by the committee at the beginning of 2025. Building an ultra-orthodox Yeshiva with dormitories for hundreds of young religious men is bound to severely disrupt daily life in the Palestinian neighborhood.
District Committee advances plan for a new settlement in Um Tuba
Following a committee decision, the Nofei Rachel plan will be deposited for public review. Once the plan is published, the public will have 60 days to submit objections.
The plan is for 659 housing units and is initiated by settler activists Udi Ragonis and Kevin Beirmeister whose company “Nofei Rachel” claims to have ownership rights, this too through the Israeli discriminatory law regarding Israeli rights on properties in East Jerusalem.
