Ramallah: Israelis can earn up to 500 shekels (Dh504) a day for squatting in illegally seized Palestinian homes in the Silwan district of occupied east Jerusalem.

On Monday night, Israeli occupation forces seized 26 apartments belonging to Palestinians. An Israeli right-wing group called Elad bought the two buildings which the apartments are in via a foreign registered company. Elad is advertising for armed Israelis to occupy the apartments for a daily wage. The Wadi Helwah Information Centre has slammed the occupation of the apartments as an “unprecedented colonist attack.”

“Even if the houses have been bought stealthily, this is still an illegal seizure of Palestinian houses by Elad,” said the centre in a statement. The White House has condemned the Israeli move, saying that it further stokes tension between Israelis and Palestinians.

“These are provocative acts that only serve to escalate tensions which are already high,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said.

Fakhri Abu Diab, a member of the Silwan Defence Committee and member of the Higher Committee in Defence of (Occupied) Jerusalem said that there might have been very few apartments sold to Elad but the rest were seized by force. He stressed that the sale of such apartments and buildings was illegal as the buildings were constructed on Muslim Waqf land and that none of the sellers had the right to sell as they were mere tenants. He also said that those who sold apartments did not have the right to sell in the absence of their siblings who were their joint heirs in property inherited from their fathers.

“We do not have hope in the Israeli judicial system and will not approach it since it is a part of the Israeli machine to take over Palestinian-owned lands and properties,” he told Gulf News.

Abu Diab said that the newly seized outpost in Silwan was the closest area to the south of the Al Aqsa Holy Compound. He urged the establishment of a fund which buys land and property from Palestinians instead of giving right-wing organisations like Elad the opportunity to buy from them.

In an advertisement on right-wing social media sites for paid caretakers of the properties Elad said: “We are looking for people who can stay in the apartments and watch them until families move into them. The work will probably take 10 to 30 days [perhaps even more]. The daily wage is 500 shekels gross. The workers will stay in the apartments and guard them until they are inhabited by families.”

In an interview with the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, an Elad official confirmed that the group was seeking “armed persons from combat units who are ready to commit to a minimum of ten days of work .... In principle, you’re supposed to be quiet and simply occupy the compound … As far as we’re concerned, you live in the house, but it’s better if you have a weapon.”