A Palestinian businessman who is affiliated with former Fatah leader Mohammed Dahlan is planning to buy real estate in the Old City of Jerusalem on behalf of the UAE which is helping the occupation expand its illegal settlements, the deputy head of the Islamic Movement in Israel, Sheikh Kamal Khatib, warned yesterday.

Khatib posted on Facebook that “an Emirati businessman very close to the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Mohammed Bin Zayed, is planning to buy houses and properties adjacent to Al-Aqsa Mosque in particular, with the help of a Jerusalemite businessman who works for Dahlan.”

“They offered a resident of Jerusalem $ 5 million to buy his house which is adjacent to Al-Aqsa Mosque. When he refused, they raised the offer to $20 million, but the attempt to lure him was unsuccessful.”

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Khatib warned that these moves as similar to those which took place in 2014 when “Bin Zayed’s regime” purchased houses for settlement institutions in the Silwan ​​and Wadi Hilwa areas in occupied Jerusalem.

He added: “Under these dangerous circumstances, we advise our honourable people in Jerusalem not to deal with any attempt to sell homes or real estate to any party and under any cover … Rulers of the Emirates are a cancer destroying the body of the Ummah.”

This is not the first time that Sheikh Khatib has accused the United Arab Emirates of buying Jerusalemites’ properties for the benefit of the Israeli occupation, especially those near Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Khatib warned of this danger in previous statements published in the Qatari newspaper Al-Sharq in September, where he asserted that “the UAE buys the homes of Jerusalemites through American Jewish associations based in the UAE. These come from the UAE directly to Israel, through Palestinian brokers who facilitate the purchase of Jerusalemites’ real estate, especially those which are very close to Al-Aqsa Mosque.”

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