May 2020- A Jerusalemite Martyr…dozens of arrests and expulsion from Al-Aqsa Mosque
The occupation authorities continued their violations and repressive practices in the city of Jerusalem during the month of May 2020, coinciding with the month of Ramadan and Eid Al-Fiter, and the reopening of Al-Aqsa Mosque after it was closed for more than two months.
Wadi Hilweh Information Center said in its monthly report that the occupation authorities continued to execute arrests, incursions and attacks on Jerusalemites and expel them from Al-Aqsa Mosque. The occupation municipality also stepped up its policy of “forcing Jerusalemites to self-demolish their homes”, under the threat of imposing financial sums on them for demolition fees and costs.
Last month, settlers also tried to kill Jerusalemites, stabbing one of them and letting a dog attack another.
Killing a young Jerusalemite man
At the end of last month, specifically on May 30th, Iyad Khairy Al-Hallaq, 32, an autistic young Jerusalemite man, was killed in the early morning hours, by the Israeli occupation forces, when he was heading to his school “Al-Bakriya / Alwin for Special Education” in the Old City of Jerusalem.
The occupation authorities claimed that they shot the young man on the suspicion that he was carrying a pistol, as he was killed several meters away from his school, despite his attempt to escape and take shelter and the presence of his guide who shouted several times at the soldiers that he was "handicapped" but they continued to shoot him.
The autopsy results indicated that a bullet hit the chest and the other in the abdomen, killing him instantly.
The occupation authorities also shot a young Palestinian, Sabri Bashir, in Jabal Al-Mukabber, on the pretext of attempting to carry out a stabbing attack. Hours later, the forces stormed his house and arrested his two brothers.
The center stated that the occupation authorities continue to detain the bodies of four Jerusalem martyrs in their refrigerators, they are: Martyr Mesbah Abu Sbeih (since October 2016), Martyr Fadi Al-Qunbar (since January 2017), Aziz Aweisat (since May 2018), and Martyr Maher Za’atra (since February 2020).
Suppression during Eid Al-Fiter and the re-opening of Al-Aqsa Mosque
On the first day of Eid Al-Fiter (24-5-2020), the occupation authorities suppressed the worshipers in the area of Lions Gate. Wadi Hilweh Information Center monitored the attacks and arrests that took place after the end of the Eid prayer at the gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque that were closed due to the Corona virus. The forces pursued the worshipers and evacuated the area by force and beat them and arrested two of them.
On the last days of May, at dawn, Al-Aqsa Mosque was reopened to worshipers, after suspending their entry for 69 days as a measure to prevent the spread corona virus, while dozens of settlers stormed the mosque through Dung Gate, and the forces arrested 4 Jerusalemites from the courtyards.
Expulsion orders
The Center monitored the issuing of 24 expulsion orders against Jerusalemites, including 20 expulsion orders from Al-Aqsa, including the decision to expel the preacher of Al-Aqsa Mosque Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, two deportation orders from Jerusalem, and two deportation orders from the Old City.
Arrests
Wadi Hilweh Information Center monitored 162 cases of arrest, including 6 females, 12 underage boys, and one child under the age of responsibility "under 12 years of age".
Wadi Hilweh Information Center stated in its monthly report that among the detainees was Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, head of the Supreme Islamic Authority and Imam and preacher of Al-Aqsa Mosque, after his house was stormed by intelligence personnel, and Jerusalem Governor Adnan Ghaith during his participation in the memorial to commemorate the death of Faisal Al-Husseini. Major General Bilal Al-Natsheh, Secretary-General of the Popular National Congress of Jerusalem, and leaders of the Fatah movement, were also arrested on the pretext of "violating Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem by working for the Palestinian Authority inJerusalem."
The center explained that most of the arrests took place at dawn, coinciding with the time to start fasting during the holy month of Ramadan.
Settlers’ attacks
Two Jerusalemites survived an attempt to kill them by settlers - in two different incidents - the first was on the 7thof May, when the young Jerusalemite Muntaser Ahmed Issa, 23, was subjected to assault by a settler while working on “Egged” bus line in the settlement of Pisgat Zeev north of Jerusalem, after the settler attacked him and let his dog attack and bite him after removing the muzzle from its face and unleashing it. The driver was wounded and scratched, and his mouth and tongue wounds were sutured.
The second incident took place on May 18th, when the 17-year old Mohammad Fadi Natsheh was wounded in the neck, as a result of being stabbed by a settler while walking in Jaffa Street in West Jerusalem. He was wounded in the neck and was kept in the hospital under treatment and observation for two days.
Closure
By decision of the Minister of Security in the occupation government, intelligence personnel and forces closed the Jerusalem Hope Volunteer Association for a period of 6 months, under the pretext that they implemented activities for the Palestinian Authority in Jerusalem, knowing that the association provides various services to young people, children, women, marginalized families and people with special needs.
The Minister of Internal Security also renewed the decision to close the Palestine TV office and ban its activities everywhere in Jerusalem and Israel, for an additional 6 months; he had issued the first decision in November 2019.
The occupation authorities prevented a sit-in to commemorate the 19th anniversary of the death of Faisal Husseini, by a decision of the "Minister of Internal Security", at the closed Orient House building in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in Jerusalem.
Administrative demolition orders
As life started to go back to pre-Coruna situation and the occupation government announcing the beginning of returning to normal life, the occupation municipality has resumed its activities against Jerusalemites by storming neighborhoods and villages, distributing administrative demolition orders and summonses to follow-up with the municipality, and forcing Jerusalemites to self-demolish their facilities, to avoid paying the demolition fees to municipal bulldozers and crews as well as the police accompanying them. The demolitions were concentrated in Jabal Al-Mukabber and Silwan.
Wadi Hilweh Information Center monitored 8 self-demolitions in the city of Jerusalem, "a facility that was demolished at the beginning of May, and the rest during the last days of the month." The demolitionswere for four residential homes, one commercial facility, while the owners of three homes were forced to demolish parts that were added to the original construction.
The occupation authorities also issued a decision to confiscate a piece of land in the neighborhood of Wadi Al-Rababeh in Silwan, for use as a "cemetery for Jews". The area of the land is more than 1500 square meters.
