The Israeli authorities on Tuesday issued expulsion orders against 15 Palestinian families living in the towns of Bir Nabala and Beit Hanina, to the northwest of Jerusalem, according to local sources.

General-Supervisor of al-Baydar Organization for the Defense of Bedouin Rights, Hassan Mleihat was quoted by Palestinian news agency WAFA as saying that Israeli forces raided the area and delivered several orders to expel the families from the Kaabneh Bedouin tribe in what appears to be an attempt to seize the land they have set up their tent homes on.

He stressed that these expulsion orders come as part of the Israeli authorities’ ethnic cleansing policy in favor of settlers, particularly in Jerusalem.

He called on human rights and international institutions to uphold their responsibilities in defending the residents of these communities and to provide all possible support to consolidate their presence in the area.