JERUSALEM: Israeli guards quietly occupied two purchased residential buildings in a Palestinian district of East Jerusalem on Monday, expanding a Jewish settler project in defiance of US criticism.

A previous move on Sept 30 by settlers into homes bought in the Silwan neighbourhood, in an area captured by Israel in a 1967 war, coincided with a US visit by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and drew White House condemnation.

Hoping to cement Israel’s claim on all of Jerusalem, far-right Jews have been paying top dollar for Silwan properties, often through Arab middle-men to circumvent Palestinian taboos on such sales.

An estimated 500 settlers, armed or protected by paramilitary police, live in Silwan among 50,000 Palestinians. Israel’s claim to all of Jerusalem as its capital is not recognised internationally.

In an apparent bid to stave off fresh scrutiny and possible confrontations, Monday’s Israeli arrivals slipped in by night and holed up in the two buildings whose 10 apartments, Palestinians said, had been vacant for months after being sold through a local intermediary who had since absconded. Neighbours were aghast to learn the new owners were Jews.

“I sometimes go up on my roof without my hijab, but how can I do that now? They’ll look at me! Muslims know not to do so,” exclaimed Umm Adel Qaraq, a matriarch in her 70s, from her balcony abutting one of the new Israeli-held properties.

Three young Israeli men smiled wordlessly from a barred window next door. Four others, pistol bulges under their windbreakers, could be seen through the door of the second building, a five-minute walk away through the warren of homes clinging to a ravine over the biblical Siloam pool.

Avi Segal, an Israeli lawyer representing the real estate company that bought the buildings, said he expected eight Jewish families would eventually move in. Segal did not immediately provide further details about the company, Kudram Ltd.

Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2014