An Israeli court rejected two lawsuits calling for the eviction of Palestinian families from their eastern Jerusalem homes.

The suits quashed by the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court sought the eviction of two Palestinian families from two homes in Silwan. The plaintiffs were groups closely linked to Elad, an organization working to settle Jews in Silwan, according to the Israeli daily Ha’aretz.

“Elad and its chief are doing their best, and using all methods possible to Judaize Silwan,” attorney Muhammad Dahleh, who represented both Palestinian families, told Ha’aretz. “Only the steadfastness of the local inhabitants and their supporters, and a public and judicial struggle, can stop the explosive situation from deteriorating only a few yards from al Aksa,” the mosque on the Temple Mount. — jta