Day 79: Al-Aqsa Flood Operation in the city of Jerusalem
On the 79th day of “Al-Aqsa Flood Operation”, the siege of Al-Aqsa and settler incursions continued, and the raids and summonses continued.
The Wadi Hilweh Information Center - Jerusalem explained that the occupation authorities continued their tight siege on Al-Aqsa Mosque, deploying forces and erecting barriers at its gates, and allowing small numbers of worshipers to enter it, most of whom are elderly people and women, in addition to searching all those arriving there and checking their identities.
As for the young men, when they try to enter Al-Aqsa, the forces stop them, examine their identities, and physically search them, and after asking them several questions, they force them to leave the place and not stay there, and refuse to allow them to enter Al-Aqsa without any reason.
A 42-year-old Jerusalemite woman explained that she was able to enter Al-Aqsa and perform the afternoon prayer on Sunday, which is the first time she has been able to enter the mosque and pray in it since the beginning of the war. Over the previous days, she had been trying to enter it, but she was prevented every time for no reason.
The woman said: “Al-Aqsa is almost empty, the chapels, the courtyards, and the corridors. There are no worshippers. The forces stationed at the gates prevent the worshipers from entering.”
In the Damascus Gate area, forces continue to be stationed inside the control rooms, stopping young men and subjecting them to inspection. The Information Center, in a tour it conducted in the area, monitored the stopping and detention of many young men while walking in the Damascus area or while trying to enter the Old City.
One of the young men said after completing his search inside the control room: “I and three of my friends were on our way to the Old City. We were stopped at Damascus Gate, and we were forced, one by one, to enter the control room for inspection after handing over our personal IDs to the forces.”
He added: “Searching inside the rooms, with deliberate abuse, where the forces force us to turn our faces towards the window and raise our hands up, then one of the soldiers searches us, and that is not done without pushing and beating on the feet and back, and if we object to that, we are hit on the head.”
The young man explained: “After I was stopped against the wall in the room and physically and thoroughly searched, I was asked some questions, then I was handed my ID and was allowed to continue my way to the Old City.”
The young man said: “These are measures through which the forces are trying to prevent us from reaching the Old City, but despite these daily procedures, inspections and arrests, we will not leave the city and we will try every time to reach Al-Aqsa.”
As for another young man, the forces stopped him while he was walking in the street adjacent to Damascus Gate, and he was forced to take off his clothes, his “coat and shirt,” despite the rain and the low temperatures.
The Information Center explained that the forces continue to prevent sitting in the entire Damascus Gate area, for the third month in a row.
The forces also continued their raids into neighborhoods and towns, and delivered summons for investigation.
The Wadi Hilweh Information Center explained that the intelligence summoned boys for investigation at the Salah El-Din Street police station.
The occupation authorities transferred the two young men, Tariq Al-Abbasi and Sami Fteiha, to administrative detention.
Meanwhile, the court transferred another Jerusalemite boy to home detention, after he was accused of "incitement through social media."
The intelligence service handed the freed prisoner, Hanadi Al-Halawani, a decision to expel her from Al-Aqsa for a period of 6 months.
