Israeli forces detain prominent Palestinian activist, her brother in Jerusalem al-Quds

Israel's occupying forces have detained a prominent female Palestinian activist in a raid on her home in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of the occupied East Jerusalem al-Quds.

Muna al-Kurd, 23, leads the #SaveSheikhJarrah campaign, which has been trying to mobilize local and international action against Israel’s plan to displace dozens of Palestinian families from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah. According to her family, she was arrested on Sunday.

Her father, Nabil, told reporters that an Israeli police force savagely raided their home, apprehended his daughter and took her to an Israeli police station in the occupied East Jerusalem al-Quds for questioning.

In footage widely shared on social media, Muna is shown handcuffed and taken by Israeli forces out of her family's home.

Speaking to AFP in front of the police station, Nabil said his daughter's arrest was part of "an operation to terrorize the parents, because the voice that emerged from the neighborhood was thanks to its youth."

The Israeli police also handed a notice ordering Muna’s twin brother, Mohammad, who was not at home at the time of the raid, to turn himself in to the police.

Their father said that his son was away teaching in the West Bank city of Ramallah, but was on his way back to cooperate with the police summons.

Soon afterwards, Mohammad submitted himself to Israeli police in the occupied Jerusalem al-Quds

Supporters of Muna and her brother told Reuters their detention is part of a broader Israeli effort to halt opposition to the evictions in Sheikh Jarrah, where illegal Israeli settlers are planning to move into Palestinians' homes under an Israeli court ruling.

Without explicitly naming Muna, an Israeli police spokeswoman was quoted by Reuters as saying that "police arrested under court order a suspect (23) who is a resident of East Jerusalem [al-Quds], on suspicion of participating in riots that took place in Sheikh Jarrah
recently."

Muna, who earned a degree in communications and journalism, launched an online campaign under the hashtags #SheikhJarrah and #SaveSheikhJarrah three months ago in order to publicize the threatened eviction of Palestinians from their homes in East Jerusalem al-Quds.

Muna and her brother, whose family belongs to one of 28 Palestinian families who face the threat of forced eviction in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, have been keeping the world well-informed about the situation there.

They have garnered more than 180,000 Twitter followers and more than half a million followers on Instagram for their activism.

In a recent interview, Muna said "if their families are evicted, the rest of Jerusalem [al-Quds] will be taken too."

The al-Kurd family is one of four families who were initially set to be expelled at the beginning of May. Half of their home was seized by a group of Israeli settlers in 2009.

On May 2, the Israeli district court ruled that the four households must be evicted or reach a compromise with settler organizations by paying rent and recognizing them as landlords. However, the families resolutely refused to give in as a sign of renewed resistance.

Israeli forces have been demolishing Palestinian homes and structures in the neighborhood for the construction of a new settlement outpost in the area under an Israeli court ruling.

After strong protests, Israeli court postpones hearing on eviction of Palestinians

An Israeli court decides to postpone a hearing on the decision of evicting Palestinians from their homes in a Jerusalem al-Quds neighborhood following days of strong protests across the occupied territories.

Following days of strong protests by Palestinian people both in the occupied West Bank and the besieged Gaza Strip against the decision by Israel to evict Palestinians from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of the occupied East Jerusalem al-Quds to make way for the construction of a new illegal settlement, an Israeli court on May 9 decided to postpone a hearing on the decision by 30 days.

A spokesman for the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has warned Israel against evicting Palestinians in East Jerusalem al-Quds.

Hamas warns Israel against forceful eviction of Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah

Hamas warns Israel against any action that would harm the residents of Sheikh Jarrah district in East Jerusalem al-Quds.

“The mass displacement of our people in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood and the seizure of their homes is an obvious targeting of the Palestinian identity of Jerusalem [al-Quds] and the Palestinian presence in the city,” Fawzi Barhoum said.

Following Palestinian retaliation against violent raids on worshipers at al-Aqsa Mosque and the regime’s plans to force a number of Palestinian families out of their homes at Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, Israel launched the bombing campaign against the besieged Gaza Strip on May 10.

Apparently caught off guard by the unprecedented barrage of rockets from Gaza, Israel announced a unilateral ceasefire on May 21, which Palestinian resistance movements accepted with Egyptian mediation.

Hamas leader warns of regional face change if another conflict breaks out between Israel, Palestinians

Hamas leader warns that another flare-up between the Palestinian factions and the Israeli regime will change the face of the region.

According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, nearly 260 Palestinians were killed in the Israeli offensive, including 66 children, while some 2,000 others were wounded.

In response, Palestinian resistance factions fired more than 4,000 rockets and missiles into the occupied territories, killing 12 people.

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