On May 9, 2024, the Israeli Supreme Court canceled the expulsion orders previously issued to the al-Daoudi, Dajani, and Hammad families in the East Jerusalem Kerem al-Juni area of Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood on September 4, 2020.

In temporarily annulling the expulsion orders, the Supreme Court relied upon a precedent1 established in its prior March 1, 2022, decision to overturn the expulsion orders issued to four other families in Sheikh Jarrah—the al-Kurd, Qasim, Skafi, and Jaouni families. With these cases, the Supreme Court ruled that ownership of the land hasn’t been finalized yet, so therefore until property ownership rights are determined through a settlement of land title (SOLT) process, the families can remain in their homes as protected tenants depositing a symbolic amount of rent—NIS 2,400 ($740) per year—into a bank account shared by all lawyers involved in the case.2 The Jewish settlers claiming ownership to the land would not receive any of this money unless and until the SOLT process is completed and the landownership issue resolved in their favor.

The latest ruling marked a significant shift in the situation from the spring and summer of 2021. At that time, the Jerusalem District Court ruled in favor of the lower Jerusalem Magistrate Court’s ruling ordering the forcible expulsion of the three families3 from the homes they’ve lived in for decades. The three families were ordered to leave their homes by August 1, 2021.

The attempted expulsions of these families were at the heart of the May 2021 Unity Uprising that started in Jerusalem and spread to other areas of the country.

The latest Supreme Court ruling resulted from a petition submitted to the court by attorneys Hosni Abu Hussein and Sami Irsheid, who represent the families.4 “[The court] took new evidence that was provided by Sami Irsheid, which established a compelling argument that the [land] title is vested in the residents,” lawyer and Jerusalem expert Daniel Seidemann told Jerusalem Story.5

The Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah say Jordan, which controlled the territory before 1967, was in the process of issuing them deeds6 before Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem in June 1967. Nahalat Shimon, by contrast, claims ownership under Israel’s Legal and Administrative Matters Law—1970, an amendment to the Absentees’ Property Law—1950, which allows Jews to “reclaim” property in East Jerusalem they allegedly owned before 1948. This law can be applicable even if Palestinians currently reside in the property. Palestinians, however, do not have any such restitution rights under Israeli law for properties they owned in West Jerusalem before 1948 (see Forcible Home Expulsions).

In an interview with Jerusalem Story, Hosni commented on the significance of this latest decision:

For the full interview, see Advocate Hosni Abu Hussein: “We Prevented the Establishment of a Jewish Settlement in Sheikh Jarrah.”

Despite the lawyers’ optimism, the end may not yet be in sight. Israel froze the process of land registration—also known as settlement of land title (SOLT)—when it occupied East Jerusalem in 1967. SOLT refers to finalizing ownership rights of a particular plot of land or property.

In 2018, Israel suddenly unfroze and resumed land registration in Jerusalem under Government Decision 3790 to purportedly “reduce socioeconomic gaps and advance economic development in East Jerusalem.” While promoted as beneficial for East Jerusalem, Israeli rights groups have found that the government is actually exploiting SOLT procedures to confiscate Palestinian land. For instance, Ir Amim and Bimkom discovered in 2021 Israeli authorities are secretly registering contested plots in the western section of Sheikh Jarrah—Umm Haroun—to settlers without the Palestinians residents’ knowledge, in violation of Israeli law.8 According to Daniel, “we know there is a plan, which has not been filed formally, to raze Umm Haroun and build an entirely new neighborhood—a third example of the Israeli government building inside Palestinian areas.”

In 2023, Israeli NGOs Ir Amim and Bimkom published results of a study of SOLT proceedings underway since 2018, and concluded that the vast majority of settled cases advanced settler/state interests. They termed the process a “grand land theft."9

According to Daniel, SOLT is also ongoing in other Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem coveted by settlers, like Umm Lison and Silwan. In Umm Lison, Daniel explained, the borders of the registered land title overlap with the government’s plan to build a settlement in the neighborhood.10

“The settler DNA has been embedded in all of the organs of the Israeli government,” Daniel said of the correlation.

While concern is warranted over SOLT, Daniel is nonetheless hopeful about the Supreme Court’s recent ruling.

“This is going to end up in the Supreme Court again. Whatever the result of the land settlement is, there will be legal action by those who are not awarded title. The court sent it to the Land Registry with a very compelling argument in favor of the Palestinians. So they opened a door that did not exist before,” Daniel told Jerusalem Story. “Let’s put it this way—it is a far better outcome than anybody expected.”

The outcome, however, only applies to this specific block of homes, Daniel notes, not all of Sheikh Jarrah.