(siren blares)
- [Chris] Hamas and other terror groups
have fired more than 1500 rockets
at Israeli civilians in just three days.
While Israel's IronDome anti-missile system
has shot down more than90% of those rockets,
a number had hit Israeli communities
like Ashkelon, Ashdod, and Peretipa,
killing seven Israelisincluding a six year old boy.
Israel responded with hundreds
of surgical strikes in Gazato stop the deadly barrages.
Many of Hamas' rocketsare supplied by Iran
leading 44 Republican senatorsto call on president Biden
to suspend its nuclear talkswith the Islamic regime.
President Biden spoke at length
with Israeli primeminister, Benjamin Netanyahu
and affirmed Israel'sright to defend itself.
Israel is also seeing theworst Jewish Arab violence
in at least 20 years.
Arabs have rioted in several Israeli towns
and Jews have attacked Arabs,
and one instance on live TV.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu,
condemned the violence on both sides.
- Nothing justifies thelynching of Arabs by Jews
and nothing justifies thelynching of Jews by Arabs.
We will not tolerate this.
This violence is not us.
- [Chris] And as the worldwatches this escalation
involving Israelis,Arabs, and Palestinians,
more questions aboutwhat led to the outbreak.
Some are tracing it to theEastern Jerusalem neighborhood
of Sheikh Jarrah whereclashes of led to protests
and calls for cutting diplomatic ties
between Israel and Jordan.
The seeds of the feud go back decades.
In 1948, Jordan tookcontrol of Eastern Jerusalem
including Sheikh Jarrah.
Jews living here at wereexpelled are even killed.
Then Jordan and the United Nations
gave the area to Arab families.
Almost 20 years later,
during the Six Day War,
Israel took the area backwhen it reunited Jerusalem.
- My father take the housefrom the Jordanians in 1956.
There is agreement betweenJordanians and UNRWA.
Jordanians give the land
and the UNRWA built the 28houses for 28 refugee families.
- [Chris] Now after 65 years,
four families with more than70 people face eviction.
Jewish Israelis planto move in their place.
But Israel argues theJewish claim on the land
goes back long before 1948.
- We have to know thehistory of this place.
We call it Shimon HaTzadik.
The land around the tomb of Shimon
was purchased by the Jewishcommunity, dated back to 1840
- [Chris] According toJerusalem's deputy mayor,
the two sides had agreedto a legal compromise,
whereby the Palestinian residentswould be protected tenants
paying a minimal rentwithout fear of eviction.
- Ultimately, we're talkingabout a property dispute,
one of the parties who can prove ownership
and another party who are seenlegally as squatters because
they moved into this house after 1948
and now we have a propertyclaim that of course
has been conflagrated byeverybody in the West.
- [Chris] Hassan-Nahoum tells CBN News,
that the residents were thentold to abandon the compromise.
- The Palestinian Authoritysent their lawyers,
the minute they were involved,
the minute this became political,
they had no interest in helpingpeople stay in their homes.
They wanted people toget kicked out, publicly,
in order for Israel to getreprimanded by the entire world.
- [Chris] David Cohen,member of a Jewish family
in the neighborhood
has seen a differenceamong his Arab neighbors.
- I can tell you thatin the last two weeks,
suddenly everything changed.
They see me and every personthat looks Jewish as an enemy,
as someone who's really dangerous.
- [Chris] Cohen told CBNNews of a conversation
with one of his Arab friends.
- And he said, at thistime we're photographed,
they're paying attentionto us and checking us.
It's forbidden for me tohave a good contact with you.
- Israel maintains it'sworking to calm the situation,
such as delaying a SupremeCourt hearing on the issue.
It's also calling forinternational pressure
on the Palestinian authorityto stop the incitement
and publicly call for anend to Palestinian violence
and terrorism.
Chris Mitchell, CBN News,Sheikh Jarrah Jerusalem.
