Israeli police block protest for Sheikh Jarrah families

By Zeynep Hilal Karyagdi Duran

JERUSALEM (AA) - Israeli police on Saturday intervened in a sit-in to support Palestinians under threat of being forcibly evicted from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem.

The Israeli forces threatened dozens of Palestinians -- who took part in the protest -- with using force and dispersed the crowd.

They also seized Palestinian flags held by protesters and prevented other demonstrations in the neighborhood.

Demonstrators leaving the neighborhood reacted by flying kites decorated with the Palestinian flag.

Meanwhile, the Israeli police detained Givara Budeiri, Al Jazeera correspondent in occupied Palestinian territory​​​​​​​, as she and her team was covering the sit-in.

Tension escalated across the Palestinian territories since mid-April over an Israeli court verdict to evict eight Palestinian families from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in favor of settlement groups.

Israeli authorities, however, postponed giving a final decision on the eviction orders until December under Palestinian mass protests, including 11 days of fighting between Israel and Palestinian resistance groups in Gaza, as well as international pressure.

*Writing by Sena Guler