Day 131: Jerusalem during “Al-Aqsa Flood” Operation
On the 131st day of "Al-Aqsa Flood Operation", the occupation bulldozers demolished a house in the town of Silwan, and the siege on Al-Aqsa Mosque and the restrictions imposed on worshipers' entry to it continued, and the raids into the towns and neighborhoods in Jerusalem continued as well.
Al-Bustan neighborhood... The municipality demolishes a house and displaces 3 families
This morning, the Israeli occupation forces stormed the house of the spokesman for the Committee for the Defense of the Lands and Real Estate of Silwan, activist Fakhri Abu Diab, forcibly evacuating it and removing those present from its surroundings.
The occupation forces completely blocked the entrances to the Al-Bustan neighborhood, ascended the roofs of the high buildings and were deployed between the neighborhood's alleys and its streets, during the operation of demolishing the house of the activist Abu Diab, which lasted for several hours.
Abu Diab explained that the bulldozers demolished his house, which has an area of 120 square meters, and houses 3 families "10 people".
Abu Diab explained that a room in his house existed before the occupation of Jerusalem, and the inspector informed him "that it will not be demolished", but the bulldozer began the process of demolishing the old room, explaining that the rest of the house was built in the 1980s.
Abu Diab explained that the municipality issued demolition decisions for the entire Al-Bustan neighborhood in 2010, to build the "King David Park" on the ruins of the neighborhood, and the plan and demolition decisions were frozen after the residents' rejection and international pressure, and over the past years the residents tried to license the buildings and organize the neighborhood in order to preserve their homes and ownership of the land.
Abu Diab explained that in 2021, the municipality rejected the engineering plans for the Al-Bustan neighborhood, which the municipality demanded to be submitted over the past years, to stop the demolition of the neighborhood.
Abu Diab said: "The municipality started the demolition operations in the Al-Bustan neighborhood, and recently made a threat to do so explicitly under the pretext of "my constant talk to the media, institutions and politicians" about the demolition process and the Al-Bustan neighborhood."
Abu Diab pointed out that the Al-Bustan neighborhood includes 116 houses, sheltering about 1550 people, and many of the houses stood before the occupation of Jerusalem.
The Wadi Hilweh Information Center- Jerusalem explained that the municipality's crews carried out successive incursions into the Al-Bustan neighborhood recently, and began carrying out the demolition operations. Last week, a residential apartment for the Rajabi family was demolished, and before that another family was forced to self-demolish its retaining wall, and at the end of last year, its crews demolished a house for the Jalajel family.
Family visit in Megiddo Prison
Lawyer Firas Al-Jabrini, a lawyer at the Wadi Hilweh Information Center, was able to visit prisoners in Megiddo prison.
The lawyer explained that he was able to visit Jerusalemite prisoners in the Megiddo prison, and one of the prisoners explained to the lawyer that two days ago people from the occupation forces broke into the Megiddo prison and assaulted the prisoners.
The prisoners explained to the lawyer that the rooms were overcrowded; The room that can accommodate six prisoners holds 12 prisoners inside, and therefore there are no beds, blankets and pillows sufficient for the number of prisoners in the room, explaining that half of the prisoners in the rooms have to sleep on the floor.
The prisoners explained that they are only allowed to shower for 15 minutes, and the water is usually cold, and ablution and drinking are done through the water tap inside the "room bathroom".
The prisoners explained that they are forced to fast because of the lack of food and the poor quality provided to them, and they combine the "lunch and dinner" meals to satisfy their hunger.
The prisoners also added that the prisoners have no clothes except what each prisoner wears, which is insufficient in light of the cold weather, and explained that the prison administration keeps the windows of the rooms open.
Restriction on entering Al-Aqsa
The occupation authorities continued to impose their restrictions on worshipers entering the Al-Aqsa Mosque, by stopping those arriving there and checking their identities and preventing the young men from entering it, in a procedure that has been in place since last October 7th.
The settlers' incursions into Al-Aqsa continue, where 89 settlers stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque, during the morning and afternoon incursions, guarded by the Israeli occupation forces.
Chants of “God is Great” in support of the Gaza Strip
In the town of Silwan, chants of God is Great and chants in support of the Gaza Strip were raised in the evening hours.
Raids
The occupation forces also continued to storm the neighborhoods and towns in Jerusalem, and set up police checkpoints in its streets.
