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Haaretz: “State Asks High Court to Rule if it Must Evacuate Heftsiba Squatters”

By Yuval Yoaz, Haaretz Correspondent

The State Prosecution asked the High Court of Justice on Tuesday to rule on whether it is obligated to remove to squatters from dozens of apartments in the Matityahu East district of the West Bank settlement of Modi’in Illit.

The High Court issued an injunction roughly a year and a half ago preventing the apartments from being populated, in response to a petition Peace Now and the Bil’in council that argued the settlement neighborhood is illegal.

The would-be tenants stormed apartments they had purchased after it became clear the construction company, Heftsiba, was going bankrupt. On Monday, the Jerusalem District Court ruled the state is allowed to remove them.

The State Prosecution query to the High Court followed a correspondence it had held with the petitioners’ lawyer, Attorney Michael Sefarad. The prosecution maintains that the High Court ruling, which prohibits the habitation of Matityahu East but does not demand immediate evacuation, is untenable.

In its ruling, the Jerusalem District Court said, “This decree does not contradict previous court ruling, including some issued by the High Court of Justice, that clearly prohibit any use of Heftsiba housing projects.”