Jerusalem in 2022
On Saturday, the world bid farewell to the year 2022...a year that was described as difficult for the city of Jerusalem, due to events that Jerusalemites lived through day by day.
The events of the past year can be summarized with prominent headlines, the most important of which is Al-Aqsa, whose courtyards witnessed violent confrontations during Ramadan and about 50,000 settlers stormed it, the killings of six young men who were martyred by the bullets of the occupation, and the assassination of the journalist Sherine Abu Akleh, whose funeral was attended by thousands, which included a scene of the attack on the coffin and the storming of the French Hospital, and the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, which returned to the forefront with settler provocations and assaults on the neighborhood’s residents, the arrest of about three thousand Palestinians, the deportation of hundreds from Jerusalem or its homes, and the demolition of dozens of facilities by their owners or by the occupation mechanisms, in addition to attacks that did not stop by settlers, and Jerusalem united in the face of attempts to impose the distorted curriculum on the city's schools, and they united once again to lift the siege on the Shu’fat refugee camp and the town of Anata, with a strike that included all aspects of life.
As every year, the Wadi Hilweh Information Center - Jerusalem documents the most prominent events in the city of Jerusalem, monitors violations against Jerusalemites, and presents them according to their chronological sequence:
Martyrs shot by the occupation and the detention of bodies
On 6/3/2022, Karim Jamal Al-Qawasmi, 19, was shot dead by the occupation forces at Hutta Gate - one of Al-Aqsa Gates from the outside - under the pretext that he had carried out a stabbing attack.
On 11/5/2022, Palestinian journalist Sherine Abu Akleh was killed by the occupation bullets during their storming of the Jenin refugee camp, when she was accompanied by a group of fellow journalists, all of whom were wearing helmets and protective vests bearing the word “PRESS”. They were subjected to continuous shooting, and colleague Ali Al-Smoudi, was injured in the beginning, and moments later, Sherine Abu Akleh was wounded by an explosive bullet in the neck.
On 14/5/2022, the young man Walid al-Sharif was martyred, as a result of injuries he sustained inside Al-Aqsa squares during clashes that took place on the third Friday of the month of Ramadan on “22/4/2022”, and he was arrested at that time and was not provided with immediate treatment, and he remained in a coma until his death.
On 15/8/2022, the young man, Mohammad al-Shaham, from the town of Kufor Aqab, north of Jerusalem, was killed after storming his house, as the forces fired bullets at him immediately after they stormed his house, from a zero distance.
On 22/9/2022, the young Jerusalemite Mohammad Osama Abu Jom’a, 23 years old, from the town of Al-Tur, was killed after he was shot near the "Modi'in" settlement.
On 19/10/2022, Uday al-Tamimi, 22, was killed during an armed clash at the entrance to the "Ma'ale Adomim" settlement, east of Jerusalem.
On 3/11/2022, the young man, Amer Hussam Halabiya, was shot dead in “Al-Wad Street” in the Old City, after carrying out a stabbing operation.
The information center said that the occupation authorities continue to detain the bodies of ten Jerusalemite martyrs in refrigerators: the body of the martyr Mesbah Abu Sbeih (since October 2016), the body of the martyr Fadi al-Qunbar (since January 2017), the body of the martyr Aziz Aweisat (since May 2018), and the two martyrs Shaher Abu Khadija and Zuhdi al-Tawil (since May 2021), the martyr Fadi Abu Shkheidem (since November 2021), the martyr Karim Jamal al-Qawasmi (since March 2022), the body of martyr Mohammad Abu Jom’a (since September 2022), the body of martyr Uday Al-Tamimi (since October 2022), and the body of Amer Hussam Halabiya (since November 2022).
Shooting. And arrests of seriously ill patients
The occupation authorities continued the policy of “shooting” at the Palestinians, on suspicion of “attempting to carry out an operation.” Among them were those who were severely injured and underwent harsh interrogations from the moment of their arrest, despite the pain of the injury:
During the year 2022, several cases were recorded, most notably:
On 19/3/2022, the occupation police shot and moderately wounded the young man, Murad Samir Barakat, at the entrance to Al-Thori neighborhood in the town of Silwan, and video recordings showed that a settler assaulted him by pushing him before he was injured.
On 8/5/2022, the occupation forces fired bullets at the Palestinian youth, Nazir Marzouk, 19 years old, from the village of Abwein - north of Ramallah - after detaining him inside the observation room established at the entrance to Damascus Gate. Witnesses confirmed that the forces fired bullets directly and from zero distance at the youth. He was seriously injured.
On 11/5/2022, the occupation forces fired bullets at the Palestinian youth, Rami Srour, from the village of Ni'lin - north of Ramallah - at Al-Qattaneen Gate - one of the gates of Al-Aqsa - and after several sessions in absentia that were held for him "because of his critical health condition", he was released without restraints, as it turned out that the police’s allegations that he tried to carry out a stabbing operation were false, and the young man, Rami, was wounded by dozens of bullets, which led to the removal of the spleen and part of the stomach, in addition to damage to the limbs and the pelvis.
On 19/7/2022, the Palestinian youth, Ismail Nimer, was seriously injured in the chest and thigh, under the pretext of carrying out a stabbing attack against a settler in the "Ramot" settlement in Jerusalem, as the shooter was an Israeli photojournalist who was present at the scene.
On 22/10/2022, the occupation police fired bullets at the 16-year-old boy, Mohammad Rajab Abu Qteish, hitting him in the chest, inside the "Sheikh Jarrah Playgrounds" in the city of Jerusalem.
2022 is a dangerous year for Al-Aqsa Mosque
The year 2022 is considered one of the most dangerous years that have passed for the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, and this was clearly evident during the Jewish holidays, which are used to pass various schemes and programs; by declaring it permissible by members of the Knesset, the alleged Temple groups, chief rabbis, officers and the occupation police, by imposing a policy of temporal division of Al-Aqsa by "not allowing worshipers to enter or expel them from it during the period of incursions," and spatial division by "preventing worshipers from being in the eastern region of Al-Aqsa," in addition to raising Israeli flags in the squares, the trumpet blowing, allowing the storming of Al-Aqsa through the Lions Gate, the introduction of vegetable offerings, the blessings of marriage, purification and puberty, and the commemoration of the dead settlers. During the month of Ramadan, the month of worship for Muslims, Al-Aqsa turned into a confrontation square, and hundreds of arrests were made and drones launched tear gas canisters.
Throughout the year, the incursions into Al-Aqsa are carried out by the “daily incursions” program, which takes place through the Dung Gate, whose keys have been controlled by the occupation authorities since the occupation of Jerusalem, under the supervision and guard of the occupation forces, during the “morning and afternoon” storming periods every day except for Friday and Saturdays and during religious holidays. Groups of intruders walk towards the courtyard of Al-Qibli Mosque and head towards the eastern region of Al-Aqsa "usually perform different prayers" as it is the main gate of the alleged temple, and from there the groups continue their walk towards the gates of Al-Aqsa "the northern wall of Al-Aqsa" passing through the gates of the Lions, Hutta, King Faisal, then south towards Bab Al-Qattaneen, then exit through Al-Silsileh Gate.
The number of intruders during the year 2022 reached "48,238" extremists - according to the Islamic Endowments Department -.
As for the periods that witnessed the highest incursions, they were: the month of April, "3738" settlers during the Easter week, the month of May, "1,687 settlers" on the day of the so-called "Unification of Jerusalem," which is the anniversary of the occupation of the eastern part of Jerusalem, and "792" settlers on a day called " Independence Day, the month of June, “1052”, settlers in what is called the “Feast of the Revelation of the Torah/Shavuot,” the month of August, “2201,” settlers during the day of the so-called “Destruction of the Temple,” the month of September, “1181,” settlers in the Hebrew New Year, the month of October, “7941” settlers during the Kippur and Sukkot holidays, the month of December “1797” settlers during the week of “Hanukkah” holiday.
As for the most prominent violations, assaults and incursions monitored by the Information Center, they coincided with the beginning of the month of Ramadan, as it coincided with the "Jewish Passover week". During the holiday period, the forces deliberately evacuated the mosque, assaulted fasting worshipers and denied them access to it, ignoring the sanctity and importance of Friday prayers for Muslims.
On 15/4, the second Friday of the month of Ramadan, violent confrontations began from dawn until 10:00 a.m., with storming Al-Aqsa and imposing a siege on it, using sound bombs and rubber bullets indiscriminately, and spraying pepper gas inside the chapels, in addition to carrying out hundreds of arrests from Al-Aqsa squares and from inside the Al-Qibli chapel after storming it with weapons, targeting those present with poisonous gas and rubber bullets, severely beating them with rifle butts and shoes, handcuffing them and forcing them to lie on the ground. Dozens of injuries were recorded with rubber bullets. On that day, the gates of Al-Aqsa witnessed confrontations that lasted for several hours, and hundreds were arrested, in a dangerous precedent.
On 17/4, the occupation forces stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque in the early morning hours, during the Duha prayer, assaulted the worshipers and emptied the squares by force, besieged hundreds inside the Al-Qibli prayer hall and fired rubber bullets at them through the upper windows, and opened the gates of Hutta, Al-Majles and Al-Silsileh while keeping the other gates closed, and preventing entry to Al-Aqsa during settler incursions.
From the 18th to the 21st of last April, during the "Easter week", the forces carried out incursions into Al-Aqsa, besieged young men inside the Al-Qibli prayer hall and beat them with bombs and gas. They also determined the movement and presence of Muslim women and the elderly in Al-Aqsa, by deploying squads on all gates and expelling the worshipers from the wooded areas, and restrictions were imposed on the entry of worshipers to Al-Aqsa during this week by preventing young men from entering and withholding identities.
On 22/4, the third Friday of Ramadan, clashes erupted after the Dawn prayer, following a march that took place in Al-Aqsa squares and targeted the worshipers with rubber bullets. Members of the sniper teams stationed on the roofs of Al-Silsileh Gate fired bullets directly at the worshipers.
After the noon prayer on the same day and during a march that roamed the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque, a "drone" fired dozens of gas bombs at the worshipers in the Dome of the Rock mosque square, and dozens of cases of suffocation were recorded among the worshipers, especially women and children.
On 28/4, a "drone” dropped tear gas bombs at the worshipers in the Al-Qibli and Mughrabi Square area, while Al-Aqsa was crowded with worshipers who celebrated Laylat al-Qader there.
On 29/4, which was the fourth and last Friday of the month of Ramadan, clashes erupted after the Dawn prayer, following a march that started in Al-Aqsa squares. The forces deployed in the squares and wooded areas and at the doors of the chapels, besieging the worshipers in the Al-Qibli and Al-Marwani chapels, and assaulted them with rubber bullets and gas bombs. The worshipers were also targeted by the "sniper unit" stationed on the roof of Al-Silsileh Gate. The forces also pursued the worshipers in the wooded area, expelling hundreds of them outside Al-Aqsa and preventing entry to the mosque until 10:00 am.
On 3/5, the occupation authorities cut the wires of the speakers in Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the sound of the evening call to prayer was absent, during the celebrations at the Al-Buraq Wall on the so-called "Independence Day".
On 5/5, the Al-Aqsa Mosque witnessed massive incursions on the anniversary of the so-called "Independence Day", where the forces stormed it in the early morning hours, surrounded the worshipers inside the Al-Qibli prayer hall and assaulted them with gas and rubber bullets. They also spread in the squares and assaulted those present by beating, pushing and arresting them.
On 8/5, the occupation forces closed the gates of Al-Aqsa in the evening, after shooting a young man in the Damascus Gate area, and prevented entry to it to perform the evening prayer, so the worshipers were forced to perform it in the surrounding roads.
On 29/5, the anniversary of the so-called "Unification of Jerusalem", which is the anniversary of the occupation of the city according to the Hebrew calendar, Al-Aqsa witnessed widespread violations represented by the occupation officers allowing hundreds of settlers to perform collective public prayers in it and raising the Israeli flags, amid oppression of the Palestinians in the squares and besieging the worshipers inside the Al-Qibli prayer hall, while executing mass arrests and preventing entry to Al-Aqsa Mosque.
On 5/6 and 6/6, Al-Aqsa Mosque witnessed massive raids on the anniversary of the so-called "Descent of the Torah - Shavuot", where the occupation forces besieged the worshipers inside the Al-Qibli prayer hall, assaulted them and carried out separate arrests.
On 7/8, the anniversary of the so-called "Destruction of the Temple", thousands of settlers carried out their incursions into Al-Aqsa, and the settlers performed prayers publicly and collectively. The forces beat and pushed the worshipers in Al-Aqsa, and carried out separate arrests of women, young men, and the elderly. They also assaulted the worshipers stationed at Al-Silsileh Gate and carried out arrests to expel them from the place.
In a dangerous escalation that took place at the end of August, the occupation officers allowed a group of settlers to storm Al-Aqsa Mosque from the Lions Gate, where a group of settlers stormed the mosque through the Dung Gate. They returned and allowed some of them to enter to complete their storming of Al-Aqsa "under the pretext of not performing any prayers inside the mosque," which the "alleged temple groups" described as a great success for storming Al-Aqsa from another gate other than the Dung Gate.
On the 26th and 27th of September, the “Hebrew New Year,” the occupation authorities imposed a tight siege on Al-Aqsa and the Old City by deployment of forces at the gates of the city, especially "Lions, Herods, and Damascus", in addition to iron barriers at the gates of Al-Aqsa. The forces also assaulted the worshipers outside the gates of Al-Aqsa especially at Al-Silsileh, Hutta and Lions gates, with beating and pushing. They also assaulted worshippers inside Al-Aqsa with rubber bullets, and pushed the worshipers into the squares to keep them away from the settlers’ walking place.
During the month of October, and between 3-5 and 9-17 of it, during the celebrations of the Days of Forgiveness and the Throne, thousands of settlers carried out their incursions into Al-Aqsa, and they performed collective public prayers during the storming of the courtyards. They were also able to bring in vegetable offerings and perform public prayers; the first time was on October 11th, and the second time was on October 16th.
In December, during the week of the Hanukkah holiday, Al-Aqsa witnessed massive incursions, and settlers performed collective prayers there, while ministers, Knesset members, and rabbis participated in lighting candles for the Candlestick, which was erected in Al-Buraq Square.
The settlers' prayers during the festive period were not confined to Al-Aqsa, but rather at the gates of Al-Aqsa from the outside, especially the Lions Gate and inside the Al-Qataneen Market overlooking the Dome of the Rock.
During the aforementioned holiday period, the occupation police stationed at the gates of Al-Aqsa prevented worshipers under the age of 50 from entering Al-Aqsa from dawn prayer until before the afternoon, and they performed prayers at the gates of the mosque. The forces also assaulted those stationed at Al-Aqsa gates with beating and arrests, and deliberately evacuated the areas adjacent to “Al-Silsileh, Hutta, and Lions” gates from worshipers.
Violations and schemes
During the occupation forces' incursions into Al-Aqsa and imposing a siege on the worshipers inside the Al-Qibli prayer hall, the occupation forces deliberately destroyed the outer doors of the chapel, the plastered windows, and cut the speaker wires, in addition to causing burns in the carpets due to throwing bombs inside.
In mid-May, the occupation forces cut off the water pipes from Bab al-Rahma chapel.
At the end of last July, the "alleged temple groups" revealed a plan they submitted to the government, in which they demanded the expansion of the Dung Gate to increase the number of intruders into to Al-Aqsa through it, by removing what remains of the historical Islamic earthen hill (the Dung Gate hill) and removing the wooden bridge connecting to the Dung Gate from the center Al-Buraq Square, which is based on the ruins of the dirt hill, and the construction of another large and wide fixed bridge that matches the size of the Jewish extremists’ incursions into the mosque. It also demanded an increase in the times of incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque from 4 hours to 10 hours, extending to afternoon hours, and during Jewish holidays until night.
As for the Bab al-Rahma cemetery - located at the eastern wall of Al-Aqsa - the settlers escalated their attacks on it during the past year, by storming it, blowing the trumpet between the graves, raising the Israeli flags, and performing public and collective prayers. The Magistrate Court had allowed settlers to blow the trumpet in Bab al-Rahma Cemetery.
Restrictions and interference with the restoration work in Al-Aqsa
The occupation authorities continue to impose restrictions on the restoration work in Al-Aqsa and interfere in its affairs, while the Islamic Endowments Department stated that the “acoustics and speakers system” in the Al-Qibli Chapel inside Al-Aqsa Mosque suffers from a malfunction and severe damage by 60% of the total number of speakers in the chapel, and the speakers need to be replaced urgently, but the police prevent and interfere in it.
Stones fell from the columns of the ancient Al-Aqsa Mosque during the past year.
2022 ... High numbers of arrests
The past year witnessed a campaign of field and house arrests that exceeded 3,000 arrests. The arrests affected young men, the elderly, women and children, in addition to clerics, officials, and activists. Field arrests constituted half of the arrest cases.
The Wadi Hilweh Information Center monitored 3003 cases of arrest from the city of Jerusalem, including "35 children under the age of responsibility / less than 12 years", 619 minors, 120 females, including 9 minor girls.
The center stated that among the detainees, there are about 140 cases of arrest of boys between the ages of 13-14 years old.
The center added that among the detainees were 23 cases of arrest of students "while they were on their way to their schools or after the end of their school day while they were on their way back to their homes."
The center stated that it monitored the transfer of 33 Palestinians to "house arrest" after filing indictments against them.
The occupation authorities transferred 43 Jerusalemites to administrative detention, including the two deputies of the Legislative Council, Muhammad Abu Tair and Ahmed Attoun, noting that the authorities renewed the administrative detention of some prisoners more than once.
As for the months that witnessed the highest numbers of arrests in Jerusalem, they were in April with 793 arrests, followed by May with 401 arrests, then October with 343 arrests, and November with 214 arrests.
During the two months of April and October, the occupation authorities formed a "special investigation unit" in the "Al-Maskobyeh" detention center in Jerusalem, due to the high frequency of arrests during this period, and work continued in this special unit for several weeks, while the administration of Al-Maskobyeh prison allocated a special section for “security” prisoners.
The center stated that among the detainees was the governor of Jerusalem, Adnan Ghaith, who was arrested 3 times during the past year, the first of which was in March after he was summoned for investigation while he was on his way through the Al-Karama crossing to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, and in the months of April and August. The center added that the Public Prosecution presented last August an indictment against Ghaith that included “17 violations of the decision to prevent him from entering the West Bank since the moment the decision was issued.” The governor was released on condition of house arrest until the end of the legal procedures against him, and he is still under house arrest. In 2018, the occupation authorities pursued him with repeated arrests, which amounted to about 35 arrests, raids on his house and summonses, and imposed several restrictions on him, most notably “house arrest in his place of residence in Silwan, a travel ban, a ban on entering the West Bank, a ban on participating in any activity in Jerusalem, leading to house arrest.”
Sheikh Omar Al-Kiswani, the director of Al-Aqsa Mosque, was among those arrested last year, after storming his house in Al-Tur neighborhood and destroying its contents, and the deputy director of the Jerusalem Endowments, Sheikh Najeh Bkeirat.
In a dangerous precedent that did not happen until this year, 470 people were arrested from inside the Al-Qibli prayer hall of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, after it was stormed on the second Friday of Ramadan.
And at the end of last July, the police carried out dozens of arrests from the streets and neighborhoods of Jerusalem during the celebration of the “Tawjihi” high school results, and among the detainees were students celebrating their success.
The Information Center stated that the occupation forces arrested more than 70 Jerusalemites last January during the snowfall and accumulation in the city, claiming that they were "throwing snowballs and stones at the forces, police vehicles, and settlers."
Mass arrests were also carried out "about 25 individuals" during a raid to demolish the Salhiya family's property in Sheikh Jarrah, and the land of 6 dunums was confiscated.
The occupation authorities also continued the policy of "immediate detention upon release" against the freed Jerusalemite prisoners, by detaining them immediately upon their release from the prison gate or upon their arrival to their areas of residence, and after hours or a day they were released on conditions, most notably "deportation from the city of Jerusalem, deportation from the place of residence, and the prohibition of celebration.”
At the end of last September, the Minister of the Army in the occupation government issued an order to seize and confiscate the money of Palestinian prisoners from the city of Jerusalem and the Palestinian 1948 lands, according to the so-called “anti-terrorism law of 2019.” An order under the pretext of “supporting terrorism.” The decision targets 41 prisoners from the 1948 lands and 8 prisoners from Jerusalem, "one of whom is a freed prisoner."
During the year 2022, the occupation forces continued to carry out arrests and file indictments under the pretext of "incitement on social media / Facebook, Tik Tok, and Instagram."
Education is at a critical juncture
The course of the targeting the educational policy in the city of Jerusalem took a dangerous turn in the year 2022, as the occupation authorities increased their interference in imposing the Israeli curriculum on some schools in the city. At the end of last July, the Ministry of Education in the occupation government withdrew the licenses of 6 schools in the city of Jerusalem, for a period of one year, under the pretext of “incitement in textbooks against the state and the occupation army”. The decision included the Al-Ibrahimiya School in Al-Sowaneh, and the Al-Iman school with all its branches in Beit Hanina in Jerusalem.
The ministry of education in the occupation government said in a statement that it would withdraw from the aforementioned schools the permanent work permit and replaced it with a one-year temporary permit, and its renewal is conditional on amending the teaching curriculum and what it called "inciting content against the Israeli government and the army."
The ministry tried to impose the distorted Palestinian curriculum, which appears to be identical to the original Palestinian curriculum, which is "a curriculum that is reprinted by the municipality and the Ministry of Education before distributing it to schools in the city." Lessons, pictures, poetry, and even Quranic verses are deleted, and other subjects are added.
In implementation of the decision to "withdraw the permanent license from Al-Iman School", on 8/10, crews from the "Israeli Ministry of Education" stormed 3 branches of Al-Iman Schools in Beit Hanina in Jerusalem, "to examine the books taught to school students", and the inspection teams distributed their crews to the branches of the three primary schools simultaneously, which are “Al-Iman School for Boys “A”, Al-Iman School for Boys “B”, and Al-Iman School for Girls, and the crews stormed the classrooms and examined the books, threatening the administrative staff with arrest and bringing the police. The Israeli forces attempted to storm the Al-Ibrahimiya School, but the guards prevented them from doing so.
The matter did not stop at Al-Iman and Al-Ibrahimiya schools. With the beginning of the school year and during it, the Israeli Ministry of Education sent a letter to several schools in the city of Jerusalem, entitled “Textbooks containing inflammatory content in schools in East Jerusalem,” where it threatened to withdraw their licenses in the event that “an educational institution is found teaching textbooks that contain inciting material.”
In the face of the attack on education in Jerusalem, a comprehensive strike called for by the national and Islamic forces in the city’s schools took place on 19/9, in rejection of the occupation municipality’s attempts to impose distorted Palestinian curricula on schools, and the threat to revoke the licenses of schools in the city.
Demolition did not stop... targeting inhabited houses
The occupation authorities continued demolitions in the city of Jerusalem during the year 2022, under the pretext of "building without a permit", at a time when huge conditions and financial sums are imposed for licensing procedures that extend for many years.
The center stated that the demolition included "houses, commercial and agricultural facilities, foundations, fences, and barracks." During the past year, the municipality targeted inhabited residential homes.
Under threat of imposing financial fines or actual imprisonment, the occupation municipality forced Jerusalemites to implement the demolition decisions themselves, the "self-demolition", where the municipality gives them the choice between carrying out the demolition themselves or doing so and they have to pay the costs of "its machinery, crews, accompanying forces and workers."
The Wadi Hilweh Information Center - Jerusalem monitored 140 cases of demolition in the city, including 72 self-demolished facilities, and of the demolitions, 110 facilities consisted of "houses, residential rooms, and a balcony", in addition to a residential building, and the occupation bulldozers demolished a cemetery under construction in the village of Umm Tuba, "the scraping of the land and the wall and the graves erected on it."
At the beginning of last year, the occupation authorities demolished, with manual demolition tools, the house of the Jerusalemite martyr Fadi Abu Shkheidem in Shu’fat refugee camp.
Sheikh Jarrah... settlers plans and attacks by the occupation forces
Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in the city of Jerusalem and its residents in 2022 were not spared from settlers plans and attacks by the occupation forces, but the confrontation moved to the western part of the neighborhood, after the extremist member of the Knesset, "the current Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gavir" in mid-February, moved his office to the center of the neighborhood, calling to provide permanent police protection to a settler residing there. The forces provided full protection to Ben Gavir and the settlers, closed the perimeter of his "office" with iron barriers, and prevented access to the place and even walking from the street, which affected the residents of the area as restrictions were imposed on their movement when leaving their homes and returning to them.
The residents of the neighborhood and the Palestinians staged a sit-in in front of their homes, rejecting the siege and the presence of the settlers. The area witnessed sporadic confrontations and assaults on those present, as well as the execution of arrests and deportations from the neighborhood, which continued for several days.
Attacks on residents and property in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood did not stop during the past year, most notably in the month of October, when Bin Gavir stormed the neighborhood, brandishing his weapon and threatening to shoot the people. For more than 6 hours, settlers carried out attacks on the residents by beating them with sticks, stones and tools. They also smashed vehicles and windows of houses, and in front of that, the forces attacked the residents with bombs, rubber bullets, and waste water in the area, and carried out field arrests.
The settlers also carried out attacks on Palestinian vehicles several times while they were driving on Street No. 1, adjacent to the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.
At the end of 2022, the occupation municipality began implementing its project "renovating and developing the memorial to the occupation soldiers in Sheikh Jarrah, and began fencing the land to build terraces and a site for showing films about the dead soldiers."
Suppression of prayers, events and funerals
Prayers, religious events, and even funerals in the city of Jerusalem did not pass without repression and assault, as the Information Center documented them according to their chronological order:
On 28/2, the occupation forces suppressed the celebrations of the Palestinians on the anniversary of the Isra and Mi'raj during their gathering and presence in Damascus Gate area in Jerusalem, with bombs, beatings, arrests, and rubber bullets.
In April, the streets of Jerusalem, "the area of Damascus Gate, Herods Gate, Sultan Suleiman Street, al-Musrara, and Nablus Street," witnessed night confrontations, "at the beginning of the month of Ramadan," and the forces beat the locals and carried out arrests.
In April, during the Christians' celebrations of "Light Saturday", thousands of them were denied access and prayer in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, due to the barriers and restrictions placed in the vicinity of the church and at the gates of the Old City. The forces also beat and pushed many of them to prevent them from reaching the church.
In May, the occupation forces suppressed the funeral of the martyr Sherine Abu Akleh, by storming the French Hospital as soon as the mourners arrived carrying the coffin on their shoulders to the door of the hospital, and prevented them from walking. During that, the forces stormed the hospital and beat the people carrying the coffin with batons, and fired bombs and rubber bullets at the participants. They also stormed the emergency department in the hospital, and the forces assaulted again those inside the car transporting the body with beating. The forces determined the path of the car, and the cavalry teams and a police car chased after it. The forces also assaulted the Palestinians in the streets of Jerusalem to prevent them from reaching the church and participating in the funeral, and closed the roads in the Old City.
On the day of the martyrdom of Abu Akleh, the forces stormed her house in Beit Hanina, and demanded that flags not be raised, and not to play songs, or sit in the street. In the afternoon hours, they suppressed a march that started from Beit Hanina towards the martyr's house.
The occupation forces suppressed the funeral and procession of the martyr Walid Al-Sharif, by chasing the ambulance transporting the body in Al-Tur and attacking it with rubber bullets, as well as attacking the convoy of vehicles with bullets and beatings to prevent cars and pedestrians from continuing towards Al-Aqsa, and suppressed the mourners with sound and gas bombs and chased them inside the cemetery, where the area witnessed confrontations that lasted more than two hours.
On 29/5, on the anniversary of the so-called “Jerusalem Day”, which is the anniversary of the occupation of the eastern part of the city, the occupation forces suppressed the Palestinians in the streets of Jerusalem and the nearby neighborhoods, in conjunction with the “flags march”, and the city witnessed various confrontations, and for more than 8 hours, the lives of the Palestinians were disrupted in Jerusalem by limiting their movement and specifying the streets through which they are allowed to walk, preventing them from reaching their homes, and forcing merchants to close their shops before the march.
On 7/10, the occupation forces suppressed the Palestinians in the Wadi Al-Rababeh area in the town of Silwan, while they were on their lands and harvesting the fruits of olive trees, with beatings, arrests and bombs, while settlers stole the fruits from the trees.
On 8/10, on the anniversary of the “Prophet's Birthday", the occupation forces suppressed the Palestinians in the streets of Jerusalem, with arrests, bombs, rubber bullets and waste water, and carried out arrests from the streets of the city.
On 10/12, the occupation forces beat and arrested Palestinians in the streets of Jerusalem during the celebration of the Moroccan national team's qualification for the semi-finals of the World Cup, which was held in Qatar.
Shu’fat refugee camp and the town of Anata...a comprehensive siege
During the month of October, the occupation authorities imposed a tight siege on the Shu’fat refugee camp and the town of Anata, following a shooting attack that was carried out at the military checkpoint. The forces completely closed the two main entrances to the area for 6 consecutive days, and the residents became prisoners in a large prison by preventing them from leaving or entering it, and food supplies began to run out from the shops, and waste piled up in the streets because trucks were prevented from entering to collect garbage and clean up. During the days of the siege, the forces carried out daily raids, arrests and searches of the streets, buildings and mosques in the area, to look for Uday al-Tamimi who carried out the shooting at the checkpoint.
The occupation authorities retracted the closure and siege of the Shu’fat camp and Anata, after the declaration of civil disobedience on October 11th, which included a strike in schools and shops, and the workers did not go to their jobs. The city of Jerusalem committed itself to the comprehensive strike, and the city rose up with its towns and neighborhoods in support of the Shu’fat camp and Anata.
Settlers attacks with bullets, sharp tools, and incendiary materials
Settlers attacks on Palestinians and their property escalated during 2022, as settlers used various means and methods, including attempted murder by shooting, beating with sharp tools, throwing stones, pepper spraying, and vandalizing property. The center monitored these attacks:
• Shooting by a settler at the two brothers, Jawad and Mohammad Abu Khadija, one of whom was wounded in the leg and the other in the stomach, after a traffic accident between their vehicle and the settler's vehicle on Hizma Road.
• Throwing stones at Mrs. Abeer Abu Jamal's vehicle, from the village of Jabal Al-Mukabber, while she was driving from Ramallah to Jerusalem on a bypass road, which resulted in her suffering from jaw fractures and facial wounds.
• Beating with "sharp tools, blades, and shoving", to which the two young men, Basil Rashid and Ammar Hijazi, were subjected. Rashid sustained various injuries in the back, while Hijazi had a broken hand.
• A severe beating to the Jerusalemite, Arafat Al-Tahan, after dozens of settlers attacked him with stones, while he was on his land in the village of Turmus Ayya.
• Riyad Sumrein and his son Laith were while they were attacked and severely beaten near their homes in Silwan. The father suffered jaw fractures and severe swelling of the face, and the son suffered bleeding in the eye.
• Mohammad Zahran, 53, was attacked with sharp tools while he was standing in front of his house in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. He sustained fractures in the skull and a head wound, which required 13 stitches, in addition to various bruises.
• Alaa Al-Kiswani was beaten and pushed in the neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, and he sustained fractures in his hand.
• Spraying incendiary materials on two young men, Mohammad Abu Sbitan and Irad Shalalda, while they were working near a settlement near Ramallah, and they suffered severe burns in the eyes and face.
In other incidents targeting Jerusalemites, the residents of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood were subjected to several attacks by settlers, who stormed the streets of the neighborhood and threw stones at homes, vehicles, shops, and the neighborhood mosque in addition to insults and threats. The residents of the Al-Sumoud building were attacked, and the settlers brandished weapons at the residents, and destroyed the tires of the vehicles and damaged their windows.
A settler opened fire randomly while he was driving his vehicle on Wad Qaddoum Street in Silwan.
Settlers carried out attacks on Palestinians and their property in the Old City of Jerusalem, and in Silwan, especially the Batn al-Hawa and Wadi Hilweh neighborhoods, and the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, during the settlers' celebrations of the "occupation of Jerusalem" at the end of last May.
Settlers vandalized vehicles’ tires and smashed the windows of a bus transporting students in the Al-Sowaneh neighborhood in Jerusalem in early October. On the same day, settlers stormed the courtyards of the residents' homes in the neighborhood, noting that the area is only a few meters away from the "Beit Orot" settlement.
Settlers also carried out various attacks on vehicles while they were driving on Street No. 1 in Jerusalem, and at the entrance to the village of Umm Tuba, south of the city.
Settlement associations control real estate
As part of the settlement attack on the real estate of Jerusalemites, the settlers took control of the Petra Hotel in the Old City of Jerusalem, which is part of a deal whereby hotels, land and real estate were leaked to settlement associations by the former Greek Orthodox Patriarch Irnius in 2004, and the “Bresford” settlement company had claimed to have purchased “the monopoly” for the Petra Hotel. At the end of June, the Magistrate's Court issued a decision to evict settlers from the ground floor of the Petra Hotel (Little Petra), which consisted of two shops belonging to Hassan Saeed. The shops were raided and the owner was prevented from entering them since March 27, 2022.
Settlers seized the land of the Salem family in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem, under the pretext that the land on which the house was built was owned by settlers before 1948. The office/tent of the extremist Knesset member and current Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gavir, is located on the land.
The settlers took control of a residential apartment in the Dung Gate neighborhood / Silwan, after it was sold by its owner, Mu’taz Halisi.
The "Nature and Parks Authority" crews demolished a warehouse belonging to the Abu Hadwan family in the Wadi Hilweh neighborhood in the town of Silwan, to implement their plan on the site to be a road to the "City of David" settlement and from there to the Umayyad palaces. The "Nature and Parks Authority" crews also built a room in the place.
At the end of 2022, the settlement associations seized the "al-Hamra Land" in the Wadi Hilweh neighborhood in the town of Silwan, which has an area of more than 7 dunums. The land was a pool for collecting the water of the adjacent "Ain Silwan" to serve the residents of the Old City of Jerusalem. The land belongs to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, and has been leased since the year 1928 for the Sumrein family. The patriarchate leaked the land during what is known as the “Deal of the Jaffa Gate real estate leakage in 2004.” As for the settlement associations and the “Antiquities and Nature” authorities, they are planning a project to “revive the water pool” at the site, and they called it, according to their advertisements, the “Shilokh Pool.”
Deportation policy
Deportation from the home, the region, the neighborhood, and the city is a tool used by the occupation authorities against Jerusalemites who are arrested or summoned for investigation, and then released on this condition, as punishment under various pretexts.
The Wadi Hilweh Information Center - Jerusalem monitored 993 deportation decisions from the Palestinian territories, the Old City, Al-Aqsa, and the West Bank. The decisions targeted 111 women and 78 minors.
The center clarified that the most prominent decisions were: the deportation decision from the Palestinian territories against the freed prisoner Salah Al-Hammouri, in addition to 523 deportation decisions from Al-Aqsa, 436 from the Old City, 31 from the city of Jerusalem, and 2 bans on entering the West Bank.
The center pointed out that the "occupation police and courts" issued, during the past year, dozens of deportation orders from the streets of Jerusalem, Damascus Gate area, Sultan Suleiman Street, Nablus Street, and Sheikh Jarrah against young men and women who were arrested from the streets.
The center stated that the occupation authorities deported, in late 2022, the Jerusalemite prisoner Salah Al-Hammouri, 37, from the Palestinian territories to France, after withdrawing his identity under the pretext of “posing a threat to the security of the occupying state, disloyalty to it, and his activity in the Popular Front.” The occupation authorities deported Al-Hammouri from Hadarim Prison to the Lod airport and then to France.
Al-Hammouri holds “French nationality” from his French mother, and his deportation was preceded by the separation of his family. In 2016, his wife was deported for 10 years from the Palestinian territories, after she was detained at the airport during her return to her home in Jerusalem, while she was seven months pregnant. Salah Al-Hammouri was subjected to several arrests in prisons during the previous 21 years, and the total number of what he spent in prison was about 11 years, the last of which was last March, when he was arrested and transferred to “administrative detention” and renewed for 3 consecutive times, which ended in December, and then was deported from his homeland.
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