U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield called on Israel to refrain from evicting residents of several illegal structures in Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.
Speaking to the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday, she said: “To make progress, both Israel and the Palestinian Authority must refrain from unilateral steps that exacerbate tensions and undercut efforts to advance a negotiated two-state solution.”
Police arrested more than a dozen people during the evacuation and subsequent demolition of the buildings. Police had attempted to carry out the court-ordered eviction several times this week, resulting in a tense standoff with members of the Salhia family, one of whom threatened to self-immolate if the order was carried out.
Israel’s Ambassador to the United States Gilad Erdan responded by saying the family “stole public lands for their own private use. This is a municipal issue that has gone through all the respective channels of the independent Israeli legal system.”