Last week, the Israeli Ministry of Justice began registering ownership of the area adjacent to Al-Aqsa Mosque in the name of Jewish individuals.

The registration process is part of a government budget designed to reduce so-called gaps and improve the quality of life for Palestinians living in Jerusalem, but in reality, according to Haaretz, it is used primarily to register Jewish property, and Palestinians are often afraid to cooperate with it.

Registration procedures began last week, and include lands located within the “National Park” plan around the walls of the Old City, south of Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The Haaretz report noted that the Jerusalem Land Registry official, David Rotenberg, has begun the process of registering several sections (areas that will be given priority for registration) in Jerusalem in the past two years, following a government decision in this regard in 2018.

The report explained that this measure was widely opposed by human rights organizations because it targets lands owned by Jews or owned by the “custodian (guardian/custodian) of absentee property,” which includes sections that include planned future settlement projects and neighborhoods.

According to the newspaper, the registration process has almost ended in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in occupied Jerusalem, and it said that “almost all of the lands have been registered in the name of Jewish owners.”

The report explained that the operation also targets areas in the French Hill area, where it is planned to build a new settlement neighborhood called “Givat HaShaked” in southern Jerusalem.

The Judaization process also targets an area located between the settlement of “Har Homa” and the town of Sur Baher, near the Haredi settlement of “Har Shlomo” registered under the ownership of the “Custodian of Property”, in addition to another area where a new settlement neighborhood is planned to be established in the settlement of “Atarot” north of the occupied city of Jerusalem, also registered under the name of the “Custodian of Property”.

Haaretz pointed out that the process of Judaizing land registration in Jerusalem is being carried out with a budget that was originally intended to “create a better future for the residents of East Jerusalem,” as stated in publications by the Ministry of Jerusalem Affairs in the Israeli occupation government.