Day 160: Jerusalem during “Al-Aqsa Flood” Operation
On the 160th day of "Al-Aqsa Flood Operation", the Israeli occupation forces installed iron cages at the gates of Al-Aqsa, and the settlers' incursions into Al-Aqsa continued, as did the raids into the towns and neighborhoods of the city of Jerusalem.
Al-Aqsa Mosque
The Israeli occupation forces placed "barriers - iron cages" on 3 of the gates of the Al-Aqsa Mosque; King Faisal, Al-Ghawanmeh, and Al-Hadid, designated for the forces stationed at the gates of Al-Aqsa, and the "table, plastic chairs and metal barriers" that were used by the forces stationed at the gates were replaced with “mounted iron cages”.
The Israeli police said in a statement that "maintenance was done to the points allocated to the forces " at the gates.
The Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora Affairs has condemned the Israeli occupation authorities' installation of iron cages on three of the gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The official spokesman for the ministry, Sufian al-Qdaa, warned the Israeli occupation authorities of continuing to impose their measures aiming to control the entry of worshipers to Al-Aqsa Mosque, stressing the need to ensure free and unrestricted access to Al-Aqsa Mosque as a pure place of worship for Muslims throughout its 144-dunoms area.
The Israeli occupation forces also continued to deploy and remain stationed on the gates of Al-Aqsa and the Old City, and the roads leading to the mosque, and during the daytime hours they stopped those coming to Al-Aqsa, and prevented them from entering.
As for the Ishaa and Taraweeh prayers, the Islamic Endowment Department has estimated the number of worshipers at Al-Aqsa at 70 thousand.
Hundreds of worshipers performed I’tikaf in Al-Aqsa Mosque on the first night of I’tikaf, and the Council of Islamic Endowments had announced that this year's I’tikaf in Ramadan will be on Thursday night and on Friday night, and the last ten days of the month of Ramadan.
The police broke into the Al-Qibli prayer hall, while the worshippers were stationed inside it, and other forces were stationed in the vicinity of the prayer hall.
Wadi Hilweh Information Center learned of the arrest of two young men while they were trying to leave the prayer hall.
The settlers' incursions into Al-Aqsa continued during the period of the incursions, and 100 settlers carried out their incursions into Al-Aqsa through Dung Gate, guarded by the Israeli police.
Raids
The forces, accompanied by intelligence personnel, carried out several incursions into the Shu’fat refugee camp in the city of Jerusalem, and toured the lanes and alleys. In the early morning hours, police and intelligence vehicles were stationed at the "Wall Gate" in the Ras Khamis area.
The forces also stormed the Al-Bustan neighborhood in Silwan, and removed the slogans off the walls of the neighborhood.
The forces arrested Youssef al-Risheq from a checkpoint at the entrance to the town of Ezaryeh, and turned him over for investigation at the "Qishleh" police station in the Old City of Jerusalem, and after hours of investigation and detention, he was released on the condition that he be expelled from Al-Aqsa Mosque for a week with the possibility of renewal.
The Israeli intelligence continued the campaign of expelling people from Al-Aqsa "women, young men and girls", from Jerusalem and the Palestinian 1948 lands.
The court issued a verdict against the young man Abdallah Assaileh, from the town of Silwan, and sentenced him to an actual prison term of 50 months.
In the area of Herods Gate in Jerusalem, the forces deployed in the evening hours and pushed some of the young men away from the place by force.
