March 2017: Two Jerusalemite Martyrs and continuing to detain the bodies of 4 Martyrs…targeting Al-Aqsa guards…arresting 157 Palestinians in the city of Jerusalem
Wadi Hilweh Information Center issued its monthly report for March 2017 in which it monitored the Israeli violations in the city of Jerusalem as the occupation authorities murdered a woman and one young man and targeted the guards of Al-Aqsa Mosque while the occupation municipality continued demolishing residential establishments. The authorities also executed arrests in the city and continued to detain the bodies of four Jerusalemite Martyrs in their freezers.
Two Martyrs…and four Martyrs’ bodies detained
On the 13th of March, 25-year old Ibrahim Mahmoud Matar passed away after being shot by the occupation forces near Lions Gate police station in the Old City of Jerusalem meters away from Al-Aqsa Mosque while he was heading to perform the Dawn Prayer. The young man was arrested and taken to the police station. After evacuating him from the station by force, a soldier opened fire towards him which led to his Martyrdom; the occupation authorities continue to detain his body.
On the 29th of March, 49-year old Siham Rateb Nimer passed away after being shot in the area of Damascus Gate in Jerusalem. She was left bleeding without any treatment and paramedics were not allowed to reach her. Later on, she was announced dead and the occupation authorities detained her body. It is noteworthy that Martyr Siham is the mother of Martyr Mustafa Nimer who passed away last September after the soldiers opened fire towards his vehicle in Shu’fat Refugee Camp.
The occupation authorities continue to detain the bodies of Martyr Musbah Abu Sbeih who passed away last October and Martyr Fadi Qunbar who passed away last January.
Al-Aqsa Mosque
The occupation authorities targeted and harassed the guards of Al-Aqsa Mosque while being on duty. They also continued to interfere in the work of the construction committee at Al-Aqsa Mosque and disrupted their work inside Al-Aqsa. Also, settlers continued to break into the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque during the morning and afternoon break-in session that are carried out through Dung Gate and under the protection of occupation forces.
Wadi Hilweh Information Center said the forces arrested last month the head of the construction committee at Al-Aqsa Mosque and two of the committee’s employees while they were fixing one of the gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque. At the end of the month, the authorities harassed and targeted Al-Aqsa guards by assaulting and arresting them in addition to isolating them from Al-Aqsa Mosque.
On the 27th and 28th of March, the forces arrested 11 guards some from the courtyards and gates of Al-Aqsa and other from their homes. On the 27th, an Israeli Archaeologist attempted to steal stones from Al-Aqsa but the guards confronted him. On the same day, the forces attacked a group of Al-Aqsa guards near Al-Majles Gate a, pushed and beat them. On the following day, Special Forces assaulted a group of guards after while objecting to a group of settlers who were performing their religious rituals in the courtyards of the Mosque.
The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said at the end of last month that he is considering allowing the government’s ministers and members of the Knesset to break into the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque after the holy month of Ramadan. Netanyahu had banned his government’s ministers and members of the Knesset from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque since the beginning of the latest Palestinian uprising in October 2015.
During March, 1580 settlers including Jewish students broke into the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Arresting 157 Palestinians from the city of Jerusalem
Wadi Hilweh Information Center monitored the arrest of 157 Palestinians including 6 women and one girl, 41 minors and 3 elderly.
The geographical distribution of arrests was as follows: Silwan 48, Esawyeh 28, Jabal Al-Mukabber 26, Old City of Jerusalem 12, Shu’fat Refugee Camp 9, Al-Tur 6, Al-Sowaneh 4, Beit Hanina 3, Wad Al-Joz 3, Kufor Aqab 2, Beit Safafa 1 and 13 people from Al-Aqsa Mosque in addition to several arrests from the streets of the city.
The center explained that among the detainees were the family members of Martyr Ibrahim Matar and Martyr Siham Nimer.
The forces assaulted five Jerusalemites from the village of Esawyeh in March and injured them with multiple bruises before arresting them at a mobile checkpoint established at the entrance of the Jerusalem.
Deportations from the Old City of Jerusalem and isolations from Al-Aqsa Mosque
Wadi Hilweh Information Center monitored several isolation and deportation orders issued by the occupation authorities against 16 Jerusalemites including 3 children.
Ten Jerusalemites were isolated from Al-Aqsa Mosque including 7 guards while 6 others were deported from the Old City of Jerusalem for durations between 3 days and 60 days.
Demolishing 14 establishments
The occupation municipality in Jerusalem continued executing demolition operations against commercial and residential establishments in the city under the pretext of building without a permit at time when it imposes impossible conditions to obtain building licenses.
The center monitored the closure of the house of Martyr Fadi Qunbar and demolition of 13 establishments in Jerusalem in which 2 of them were self-demolished by their owners following orders issued by the municipality. The establishments were as follows: 5 houses and foundations of one house, 3 residential buildings- two under construction-, a warehouse, one room and a farm in addition to two barrack used for livestock.
The geographical distribution of demolitions was as follows: Esawyeh 6, Jabal Al-Mukabber 5, Silwan 2 and one in Beit Hanina.
The center also pointed out that the occupation authorities closed the house of Martyr Fadi Qunbar with cement. They raided the house in two consecutive day and poured cement inside it. The house consisted of two floors where 4 individuals lived (Martyr’s wife and four children; oldest is 8 and youngest is 9 months).
In March, the occupation authorities displaced 49 individuals including 18 children from their homes due to the demolition operations.
Violations and assaults
The occupation authorities close the mapping office in the Arabic Studies Association in Beit Hanina north of Jerusalem, confiscated computers and files and arrested its director, Khalil Tafakji, following an order issued by the Minster of Internal Security. Two days later, the office was reopened since it lies within the borders of the West Bank. The closure came under the pretext that the office is within the boundaries of the city of Jerusalem.
For the second consecutive month, the occupation authorities continue to close Al-Nukhba Elementary School in the village of Sur Baher claiming that the school is intending to teach the children material that contradicts with the existence of the state of Israel and follows the philosophy of Hamas movement based on intelligence information they had collected. The school has 230 students enrolled in it from kindergarten to 6th grade. The appeals committee in the Israeli Ministry of Education held a session to discuss the appeal submitted by the school’s administration regarding the refusal to license the school; the decision was postponed until 23/4/2017.
Last month, the occupation Special Forces assaulted Jerusalemites and severely beat them in the neighborhood of Wad Al-Joz; the assault was captured on video and led to the injury of Mazen Shweiki (50) with shortness of breath and bruises while Ahmad Tawil suffered a swollen eye.
Settlers also assaulted last month a child and a young man and threatened a third one with a knife. Settlers assaulted 41-year old Fadi A’bed while he was working in West Jerusalem. He suffered a broken nose and wounds in his face and head. Also, four settlers assaulted 15-year old Malek Siam while he was heading home in the area “Al-Masharef Mountain” in Jerusalem. He suffered a shortness of breath and pains in his head and chest.
In the same context, three settlers chased 22-year old Mousa Khaled Aweiwi from “Mahne Yuda” Street in West Jerusalem to Al-Musrara Street in Jerusalem while driving his vehicle. They threatened him with a gun and a knife. While attempting to run away from them, he collided with an “Egged” bus.
