Day 57: Al-Aqsa Flood Operation in the city of Jerusalem
On the 57th day of “Al-Aqsa Flood” Operation, the occupation authorities closed the homes of two brother martyrs in the village of Sur Baher, and continued to close the entrances to the villages of Sur Baher and Umm Tuba with cement cubes, while the siege imposed on Al-Aqsa Mosque continued.
Closing the homes of the two Nimer brothers
By decision of the Prime Minister of the occupation government and the Minister of National Security, the occupation authorities closed the homes of the two brothers Ibrahim and Murad Nimer in the village of Sur Baher.
The Nimer brothers were martyred last Thursday, after carrying out a shooting attack at the western entrance to Jerusalem in the “Ramot” area, which led to the killing of 4 settlers.
Since last Thursday, the occupation forces have stormed the Nimer's two homes several times, vandalized their contents, and completely destroyed the two homes. From the first day, they ordered the family to evacuate the two homes and not be in them. Then they returned and took measurements of the two homes and examined the walls, to examine the demolition method: "bombing, demolishing internal walls, pouring concrete" in a procedure carried out by engineering teams immediately after the issuance of a decision to demolish the house of a Palestinian martyr or prisoner.
After midnight on Friday, the occupation forces stormed the Nimer's two houses "in two areas in the village of Sur Baher", surrounded the two houses and their entire surroundings, and then began the process of closing and blocking all the entrances to the two houses (windows and doors).
Three people live in the house of the martyr Murad Nimer, “his wife and two children,” and two people live in the house of the martyr Ibrahim, “his wife and his child.”
The occupation authorities are taking the procedure of "evacuating and closing the house", anticipating the decision of the Supreme Court to demolish houses, and this happened with the families of the martyr Khairy Alqam in Silwan, and the prisoner Mohammad Al-Zalbani in the Shu’fat refugee camp, where the occupation authorities prevented the two families from using the houses, and forced them to vacate them, until they were bombed last November.
Siege of Sur Baher and Umm Tuba
For the second day, the occupation authorities continue the siege on the villages of Sur Baher and Umm Tuba, closing most of the main and subsidiary entrances with cement cubes, and erecting barriers at the open entrances.
Upon a call from the Parents Committee in the villages of Sur Baher and Umm Tuba, the schools of the two villages went on strike in rejection of the “policy of collective punishment” by closing entrances and obstructing the entry and exit of students and teaching staff.
Mohammad Abu Ter, a member of the Student Parents Committee in the village of Umm Tuba, explained that the strike will continue until the siege on the two villages is lifted, stressing that the competent authorities were asked to remove the cubes, but this was not responded to, which forced the declaration of a strike in schools.
Abu Ter said: “The occupation imposes punishment on 35,000 Jerusalemites in the two villages,” pointing to approximately 25 schools and kindergartens in Sur Baher and Umm Tuba, in which approximately 7 thousand male and female students study, and half of the students pass through the entrances to the two villages.
Abu Ter said: “Our students have the right to receive their right to education and attendance at school, but we were forced to declare a strike for the safety of the students.”
The siege of Al-Aqsa continues
For the ninth week in a row, the occupation authorities continue to impose their siege on Al-Aqsa Mosque, preventing entry to it except for Islamic Endowments employees and the elderly, most of whom are residents of the Old City.
The occupation forces are stationed at the gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque and the roads leading to it. They stop and check the identities of those arriving there, prevent young people from entering it, and place obstacles to allowing the elderly to enter it.
The occupation forces are also stationed at the gates of the Old City, stopping those arriving there, examining identities, and conducting random field investigations of young men and women.
