The Israeli Peace Now movement published the following News Flash today:
Settlers take over 2 Additional Buildings at Silwan
The two new settlements extend the settlers area of control at Silwan. They allow the settlers to have a new stronghold in an area that does not have other settlements in their immediate surroundings. The locations of the buildings are at Battan Al Hawa, in an area that is referred to as the Yemenite neighborhood (Harat Al-Yaman) or Al-Hara Al-Wusta. Unlike Wadi Hilweh where settlers took over 7 buildings three weeks ago, Battan Al Hawa is an area in Silwan which is very crowdedly populated by Palestinians. The only settlement there, until yesterday, was of about 8 families, in "Beit Yonatan" and "Beit Hadvash", where the settlers can't safely walk in the street and can only reach their homes by an armored car and with armed guards.