The Israeli government moved to establish an inter-ministry team to look into the seizure of properties in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City belonging to Arab residents of the city, according to a Monday N12 News report.
Dozens of homes belonging to Arab families are in danger of being evacuated, per N12.
The report claimed that these houses belong to Arabs who "refused to evacuate after the [reunification] of Jerusalem in 1967" after local authorities issued expropriation notices, which themselves cited the British Mandate-era 1943 Land Ordinance.
The ordinance, originally established under British rule and later enacted into law by the Knesset after Israel's founding, authorizes the finance minister to expropriate real estate for public purposes, establishing legal grounds for such seizures today.
Which areas are in danger of being expropriated?
The government's efforts will focus on Chain Gate Street, a major commercial and tourist center which lies on the border between the Jewish and Muslim quarters and is very close to the Temple Mount, N12 reported.
Ir Amim activist group member Aviv Tatarsky told N12 that Chain Gate Street has several important buildings, including Jerusalem Waqf institutions and Jerusalem's first library, which opened in the 19th century.
Ir Amim is a non-profit organization that describes itself as seeking "to render Jerusalem a more equitable and sustainable city for the Israelis and Palestinians who share it and to help secure a negotiated resolution on the city through sustained monitoring, reporting, public and legal advocacy, public education and outreach to re-orient the public discourse on Jerusalem," according to their website.
"The government thinks it can simply expropriate [the street]," Tatarsky said. "The state is working to Judaize the Old City - an act that could draw global criticism."
"Officially, on paper, this is territory that belongs to the state," a source in the Jerusalem Affairs and Jewish Tradition Ministry told N12. "The goal of the team that will be established is to study the issue and understand the gap between the decision that was made nearly 60 years ago and the reality on the ground."
Hamas responds to the possible expropriation, calls for intensifying resistance
The Hamas terror organization issued a statement on Telegram on Monday denouncing the report.
"The occupation government's decision to expropriate dozens of residential buildings in the vicinity of al-Aqsa Mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem represents a dangerous step that directly targets the Palestinian existence," the terror group wrote.
"We call for strengthening the support for the people of Jerusalem, intensifying all means of resistance and confrontation against the colonial-settlement projects, and reinforcing presence in the Old City and in the vicinity of the blessed al-Aqsa Mosque," the statement added.