Since the beginning of April…134 arrests and 47 deportation orders…transferring 10 young men to administrative detention
Wadi Hilweh Information Center - Jerusalem said that the occupation forces have escalated arrests in the city of Jerusalem since the beginning of April, "at the beginning of the month of Ramadan."
In its report, "the bi-monthly for the month of April", the center explained that, at the beginning of the month of Ramadan, the occupation authorities opened a special investigation unit in the "Al-Maskoubiya" detention center in Jerusalem, especially in the field, where the unit's investigators interrogate the detainees, to extend their detention or to present them to the court, or they were released on conditions, the most prominent of which is “deportation from the place of detention,” noting that the detainees were usually transferred to the various interrogation centers “Salah al-Din Street, al-Maskoubiya, al-Nabi Yaqoub, Oz and others.”
In its report, the center added that the occupation authorities had allocated a section for security detainees at the Al-Maskoubiya detention center.
The Wadi Hilweh Information Center - Jerusalem has monitored, since the beginning of this month and until the 14th of April, 134 arrests from Jerusalem, including 29 minors and a woman.
The center added that more than 75 arrests were carried out from the streets of Jerusalem, "Damascus Gate, Herods Gate, Sultan Suleiman, Nablus Street, and Al-Musrara," during the night hours, in addition to a number of arrests from Al-Aqsa and its gates.
The center explained that many field arrests in the streets of Jerusalem were carried out through the "undercover unit", the police disguised in civilian clothes, pointing out that the forces have been deployed in large numbers and teams since the beginning of Ramadan in the streets, and in the first week they suppressed those present several times by beating, pushing and arrests. During the first days of Ramadan, more than 30 injuries were recorded.
The center added - according to the follow-up of its lawyer - that most of the detainees were beaten during arrest, detention and transfer to the interrogation centers, in addition to continuous insults and threats.
The center pointed out that the police are transferring field arrests from the streets of Jerusalem to a mobile center that was recently opened in the "Farmers Market" a few meters from Damascus Gate, and from there to police vehicles, and then to the investigation centers, explaining that detainees are being held in the "mobile center" for more than an hour, they are beaten and pushed, forced to sit on the ground and not move, hands and feet are tied, in addition to verbal insults.
Among the detainees this April is the governor of Jerusalem, Adnan Ghaith, who was arrested after storming his house in the town of Silwan. After detaining and interrogating him, the intelligence handed him a decision to renew a ban on entering the West Bank until the end of July.
The occupation authorities have been prosecuting the Governor of Jerusalem, Adnan Ghaith, since he took office in 2018, with successive military decisions “preventing entry to the West Bank, imposing house arrest in his place of residence in Silwan, preventing communication with various leaders and personalities, in addition to dozens of arrests and summonses.”
On the eve of the “Jewish Passover,” the occupation authorities issued deportation and expulsion decisions from Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Old City. The center monitored 47 expulsion decisions, including 26 expulsion decisions from Al-Aqsa, 20 deportation decisions from the Old City, and a ban on entering the West Bank.
The occupation authorities also escalated the administrative detention decisions, and transferred 10 Jerusalemites to administrative detention during the last two weeks, for periods ranging between "one and four months".
Among the people transferred to administrative detentions, was the Jerusalemite MP Ahmed Attoun, who was arrested at the beginning of the month and after several days was transferred to administrative detention.