November 2023 in the city of Jerusalem
News of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip had repercussions on the situation in the city of Jerusalem. Al-Aqsa is under siege, Friday prayers are suppressed in the streets, martyrs in Jerusalem and their bodies are detained, homes are demolished and other homes are bombed, daily arrests, and the release of some prisoners in an exchange deal.
The Wadi Hilweh Information Center monitored Israeli violations and events at all levels during the month of November:
November martyrs during the battle of “Al-Aqsa Flood”
The month of November witnessed the rise of a number of martyrs in the city of Jerusalem, when the occupation forces opened fire on them. The center monitored the martyrs according to the date of their martyrdom:
1. 2/11/2023: The young man, Yazan Othman Shiha, 23 years old, from the town of Anata, was shot dead by the occupation forces, during a raid on the city of Al-Bireh.
2. 6/11/2023: The 16-year-old boy, Mohammad Omar Al-Farroukh, wad martyred after he was shot, under the pretext of “carrying out a stabbing attack at the Salah Al-Din Street police station.”
3. 25/11/2023: It was announced that the liberated prisoner deported from the city of Jerusalem, Mohammad Ibrahim Hamada, was martyred during the bombing of the Gaza Strip.
• The martyr Mohammad Hamada was arrested in August 1997, and was sentenced to 28 years in actual prison, of which he served 14 years. He was liberated in the 2011 prisoners exchange deal, and was deported to the Gaza Strip.
4. 30/11/2023: The young man, Murad Nimer, 38 years old, was martyred after carrying out a shooting attack at the western entrance to Jerusalem.
5. 30/11/2023: The young man, Ibrahim Nimer, 30 years old, was martyred after carrying out a shooting attack at the western entrance to Jerusalem.
The occupation authorities continue the policy of “detained the bodies of martyrs in refrigerators,” and the Wadi Hilweh Information Center explained that the number of bodies of Jerusalemite martyrs kept in refrigerators has reached 20 Jerusalemite martyrs, and they are:
1. Martyr Mesbah Abu Sbeih; since October 2016
2. Martyr Fadi Al-Qunbar; since January 2017
3. Martyr Aziz Aweisat; since May 2018
4. Martyrs Shaher Abu Khadija and Zuhdi Al-Taweel; since May 2021
5. Martyr Fadi Abu Shkheidem; since November 2021
6. Martyr Karim Jamal Al-Qawasmi; since March 2022
7. Martyr Uday Al-Tamimi; since October 2022
8. Martyr Amer Halabiya; since November 2022
9. Martyr Khairy Alqam; since January 2023
10. Martyr Hussein Qaraqe; since February 2023
11. Martyr Ishaq Al-Ajlouni; since June 2023
12. Martyr Khaled Al-Za’anin; since August 2023
13. Martyr Ali Al-Abbasi; since October 2023
14. Martyr Abdel Rahman Faraj; since October 2023
15. Martyr Khaled Al-Muhtaseb; since October 2023
16. Martyr Adam Abulhawa; since October 2023
17. Martyr Mohammad Omar Al-Farroukh (minor); since November 2023
18. Martyr Murad Nimer; since November 2023
19. Martyr Ibrahim Nimer; since November 2023
Two shootings
On 16/11/2023, 3 young Palestinians, Abdul Qadir Al-Qawasmi, Nasrallah Al-Qawasmi, and Hassan Qafisha, from the city of Hebron, were martyred after an “armed clash” with the forces stationed at the tunnel checkpoint between the cities of Jerusalem and Bethlehem.
On 30/11/2023, the two brothers Ibrahim and Murad Nimer were martyred after carrying out a shooting attack at the western entrance to Jerusalem.
Al-Aqsa Mosque
For the second month in a row, throughout last November, the occupation authorities isolated Al-Aqsa Mosque from its surroundings, imposed a strict siege and prevented entry to it, with the exception of employees of the Islamic Endowments Department and the elderly, most of whom were residents of the Old City.
The occupation forces set up their checkpoints and forces at the gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque, and conduct identity checks and physical searches of bags and suitcases for every person trying to enter the mosque.
The forces also prevent worshipers from performing prayers at the thresholds of Al-Aqsa, and pursue and assault them.
On Fridays (November 3,10,17 and 24), the measures and restrictions taken prevented thousands of worshipers from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the Islamic Endowments Department estimated the number of worshipers on Fridays at between four and five thousand worshipers only.
The center explained that since the morning hours of Friday, the forces have been deployed in the streets of Jerusalem and the neighborhoods close to it, erecting iron barriers, and preventing young people from reaching the Old City and Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The occupation forces continue to prevent prayers on Fridays in the streets of Jerusalem, and suppress and abuse worshipers, in an attempt to prevent prayers in the streets.
The center pointed out that the Wadi al-Joz neighborhood - one of the neighborhoods closest to Al-Aqsa Mosque - witnessed, over the past Fridays, suppression of prayers and attacks on worshipers with sound bombs, gas bombs, and waste water.
The center added that the forces suppressed prayers by beating and pushing worshippers in the alleys of the Old City, at the gates of Al-Aqsa, in the Ras Al-Amoud neighborhood, and in the Lions Gate area.
In the face of the scene of preventing Muslims from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque, the settlers continue their raids, during the morning and afternoon raids, and their prayers continue in Al-Aqsa Mosque under the protection of the Israeli police.
As for the situation in the Old City, it is like Al-Aqsa, where the occupation forces turned the Old City and its surrounding streets into military barracks, by deploying forces at the gates, erecting barriers in the roads and alleys, and placing obstacles and restrictions on entering it. The people of the Old City also suffer during their exit and entry, in addition to continuous detentions and identity checks.
The forces also continue to prevent sitting in the Damascus Gate Square.
Prosecutions of Jerusalemite prisoners and their families
Joint crews from “intelligence, police, and special forces, accompanied by representatives from the Ministry of the Army and the Judiciary,” carried out a campaign against the families of prisoners and liberated prisoners, by storming their homes or the homes of their families in the towns and neighborhoods of the city of Jerusalem, and handed them “seizure orders” signed by the Minister of the Army under the so-called “Anti-Terrorism Law of 2019” under the pretext of supporting terrorism.
After an extensive and meticulous search of homes and yards, and the destruction of all the contents, they confiscated money and gold jewelry, and forced some women and girls to hand over their “gold.”
During the campaign, more than 10 vehicles were confiscated, including taxis.
In another pursuit of the families of the martyrs and Jerusalemite prisoners, the occupation authorities raided homes and issued various financial violations for internal matters in the house, its yard, or in front of it, “the presence of weed residue on the door of the house, a logo on a pole outside the house, the remains of waste in an outdoor yard... and others.”
Families also received summonses to follow up with the municipality for a “building inspection” or summonses to follow up with the intelligence.
Jerusalem schools... persecution and targeting
The occupation authorities continued to interfere with the curricula taught in the city of Jerusalem, in addition to raids, arrests, and attacks on staff inside the schools. In November, joint crews from the “Ministry of Education and the Municipality” stormed the Ibrahimiya School in the Al-Sowaneh neighborhood in Jerusalem, and searched and examined the books taught to the students. The students’ bags were searched and the curriculum was photographed.
The forces also stormed Al-Rashidyeh School, arrested 3 of its students, assaulted some students and the administrative staff, and summoned one of the teachers for investigation.
The Issawiya Boys School was targeted with gas and sound bombs. Some students suffered from suffocation, fractures, shrapnel wounds, and panic attacks while the students were in the square. Field treatment was provided to dozens of them. Some teachers were also injured. Two students suffered fractures, and several injuries were transferred to the hospital for treatment.
Last month, the occupation forces stormed several schools in the city of Jerusalem and searched students and classes.
Arrests
The occupation authorities continued daily arrest campaigns from the towns and neighborhoods of the city of Jerusalem, and the Wadi Hilweh Information Center - Jerusalem monitored 355 arrests from the city of Jerusalem during the month of November, including “3 children/under the age of responsibility” (under 12 years), 38 boys. 33 females, including 3 girls.
The Wadi Hilweh Information Center explained that hundreds of arrests were carried out during the storming of homes, and the entire contents of the house were searched and vandalized, in addition to detaining family members, preventing them from moving, and forcing them to open their mobile phones, in addition to field investigation with them.
The forces also carried out arrests of fathers, mothers, and wives, to force the “young men” to turn themselves in to the police - if they were not at home at the time of the raid.
During the month of November, occupation intelligence summoned a number of male and female journalists to the police station, Room 4, and interrogated them about their work with a specific media network and asked them not to work or deal with it.
At the beginning of November, the occupation forces carried out arrests of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, who were accompanying patients from Gaza, and were present at Al-Maqased Hospital for treatment. Large forces stormed Al-Maqased Hospital from all its entrances, and a force was stationed at its main and internal doors, and ascended its roof, and then police teams were distributed in all departments of the hospital. The forces arrested 11 people from the Gaza Strip and one person from the city of Ramallah, under the pretext of “illegal presence in Jerusalem.” After an hours-long investigation, they released most of the detainees.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Interior in the occupation government announced his intention to withdraw the “Israeli identity” from two Jerusalemite prisoners, under the pretext of “belonging to the Hamas movement.”
Collective punishment... bombing the house of a martyr and a prisoner
As a collective punishment measure against the families of people that carry out attacks in Jerusalem, the occupation forces bombed two apartments for the family of a martyr and the family of a prisoner in the Shu’fat refugee camp and Silwan. The occupation authorities evacuated the homes and neighboring buildings and distributed leaflets to the residents informing them not to leave their homes until the end of the bombing.
In the Shu’fat refugee camp, the occupation authorities blew up an apartment for the family of the child prisoner, Mohammad Basil Al-Zalbani, located on the third floor of a residential building.
In the Ras al-Amoud neighborhood in the town of Silwan, the occupation authorities blew up the apartment of the martyr Khairy Alqam, which is located on the third floor of a 4-storey residential building.
Demolition and displacement
The occupation municipality continued its demolition operations in the city of Jerusalem, in addition to issuing demolition decisions and summons to follow up with the municipality.
The Wadi Hilweh Information Center - Jerusalem monitored 22 demolition operations in the city of Jerusalem, 14 of which were carried out by their owners by decisions of the municipality in order to avoid paying fines “as a demolition fee for the forces, the municipality, and vehicles.”
The center explained that most of the demolitions were of inhabited residential facilities.
The "exchange deal"... and Jerusalem
On the twenty-fourth of last November, the 49th day of Operation “Al-Aqsa Flood,” the humanitarian truce began in the Gaza Strip and continued for 7 days, during which 7 batches of the “exchange deal” between Israel and Hamas were completed, during which 74 Jerusalemite prisoners were released. Among them are 21 female prisoners, and the rest are boys aged between 14 and 18 years.
As for the procedures for releasing Jerusalemite prisoners during the “Prisoner Exchange Week,” which were followed by the occupation intelligence, they were to summon a “family member/guardian” to the “Room 4” center for investigation, bringing the ID and mobile phone, and after bringing the families to the investigation center, each person individually, the phone is seized, and then they are presented with the conditions for their children’s release, which are “not holding a celebration or gathering, not raising flags and banners, and not setting off fireworks.”
The families were detained together in an outdoor courtyard, during which they were prevented from going anywhere, communicating with the family, moving, or even going to the bathroom, drinking water, or eating. The detention continued on several days for about 12 hours.
At the time of release, each prisoner was transported with his companion in a private intelligence vehicle to the door of his house, and while they were inside the vehicle, they were prohibited from speaking together or greeting each other, as an intelligence member would be sitting in between the family member and the released prisoner. On several occasions, the prisoner was not aware of the presence of a guardian, while the handcuffs were removed for the prisoner only at the door of his house.
Miscellaneous
2/11/2023: A comprehensive commercial strike took place in the city of Jerusalem, to mourn the souls of the “Jabalia massacre.”
The occupation forces erased slogans and murals from the walls of neighborhoods in the city of Jerusalem, while hanging hundreds of Israeli flags in various streets of the city in an unprecedented manner.
On the walls of the Old City, towards the Hebron Gate, the occupation municipality lit up the wall with the Israeli flag and pictures of prisoners detained in the Gaza Strip.
