Israeli rights groups Ir Amim and Bimkom say the Israeli government's decision to start registering land adjacent to Al Aqsa Mosque compound could have"disastrous ramifications for hundreds of Palestinian homes".
The justice ministry last week initiated the “settlement of land title procedure” in Abu Thor area as well as the Umayyad Palaces site adjacent to the southern wall of Al Aqsa Mosque. “[The procedure] carries possible disastrous ramifications for hundreds of Palestinian homes in Abu Thor, while the other has an acute potential for escalating tensions due to its highly sensitive location in close proximity to Al Aqsa,” the joint statement read.
However, Ir Amim said in 2020 that the procedure was being used as a tool to “seize more land in East Jerusalem, leading to the expansion of Israeli settlements and further Palestinian dispossession”.