U.S. presses Israel for de-escalation in Sheikh Jarrah

The Biden administration has asked the Israeli government to take steps to avoid further escalation and restore calm in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem.

Last Friday, a fire broke out at the home of Jewish settlers in Sheikh Jarrah. They are the only Jewish family in that part of the neighborhood and their cars had been set on fire several times in the past.

Displaced Palestinians were settled in Sheikh Jarrah after the 1948 Arab-Israeli war and have lived there ever since, but two Jewish associations have waged a lengthy legal battle in Israeli courts, arguing Jewish individuals owned the land prior to Israeli independence.