In 2023, the Palestinian population of East Jerusalem was 391,400 . About  60% of East Jerusalem’s residents  lived below the poverty line, compared to around 38% of the general population of Jerusalem, Israel’s largest and poorest city. According to  Knesset data  from 2024, 90% of the city’s Palestinian population hold permanent residency status, 9% are Israeli citizens, and over 40% are under the age of 18.​ As detailed in this section, despite their status as permanent residents (and a...

Dispossession through land registration procedures The process of formal land registration, or Settlement of Land Title (SOLT) in East Jerusalem poses a major threat to Palestinian residents and serves as a tool for Israelizing areas beyond the Green Line. This is accomplished by transferring ownership of real estate to the state and its various agencies, or to private individuals and companies involved in settlement activity in East Jerusalem, mainly through the Guardian General apparatus,...

Discrimination in planning and housing In 2024 , plans for over 11,000 housing units were approved citywide. Only 1,000 of the units are in Palestinian neighborhoods, meaning less than 10% of all approved units will serve 40% of the city’s population.​ The discrimination against residents of Palestinian neighborhoods in Jerusalem is evident at every stage of the building bureaucracy . As in previous years, in 2024, numerous master plans for building more than 50,000 housing units in Israeli...

Despite being required to pay municipal taxes like all city residents, Palestinians in East Jerusalem face discrimination in the provision of municipal services and infrastructure. Education The total number of students enrolled in Arab schools in East Jerusalem is 107,290.  According to a recent report by Ir Amim , which draws on data from the Jerusalem Municipality, East Jerusalem’s education system suffers from a shortage of approximately 1,461 classrooms, spaces needed to accommodate tens...

Archaeology has long been used as a tool for violating Palestinian rights and appropriating spaces, sites, and holdings in East Jerusalem. The practice is expanding, with notable examples including the continued archaeological excavations in various locations in the Silwan neighborhood (such as the Kedem Complex and the Pool of Siloam), which disrupt residents’ daily lives; the ongoing promotion of the Old City cable car project, responsibility for which has been transferred to the Ministry...

Approximately one-third of East Jerusalem’s Palestinian residents currently live on the other side of the Separation Barrier and permanent crossing points. Immediately following October 7, 2023, all peripheral checkpoints surrounding East Jerusalem were shut down, abruptly cutting off Palestinian residents living beyond the barrier from their urban hub. The placement of additional temporary checkpoints and roadblocks between neighborhoods within East Jerusalem further restricted freedom of...

In November 2024, the Knesset passed the  Deportation of Families of Terrorists Law, 5785-2024 , which empowers the Minister of Interior to deport, for several years, Israeli citizens or residents who are first-degree relatives of terrorists if they “knew or should have known in advance about the terrorist’s plans to commit an act of terrorism and failed to do everything possible to prevent its commission, completion, or consequences…” or if they “expressed support or sympathy for an act of...