Day 168: Jerusalem during “Al-Aqsa Flood” Operation
On the 168th day of "Al-Aqsa Flood Operation", tens of thousands of worshipers flocked to Al-Aqsa to perform prayers on the second Friday of the month of Ramadan, amid strict measures taken by the occupation authorities in the city of Jerusalem and on the checkpoints set up at its entrance and in the vicinity of Al-Aqsa.
Since the dawn hours of Friday, the people of Jerusalem and the Palestinian 1948 lands began to flock to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the arrival to it increased with the time of the Friday Noon prayer and the arrival of the people of the West Bank to it, as well as the continuation of the attendance to the Maghreb prayers and the Ishaa prayers, especially for the people of the Palestinian 1948 lands, where dozens of buses came from the cities and villages of the Palestinian 1948 lands to Jerusalem on this day.
The occupation authorities turned the city of Jerusalem into a military barracks; by closing streets and roads in the vicinity of the Old City and along the neighborhoods near it, placing iron barriers in the neighborhoods and at the gates of Al-Aqsa and the Old City, and in the streets of Jerusalem, deploying thousands of forces from the various units in the streets and roads, and stopping the youths and physically searching them.
The Islamic Endowment Department estimated the number of worshipers who performed the Friday prayer at Al-Aqsa at 120,000, while 100,000 performed the Ishaa and Taraweeh prayers in the mosque.
As for the entry procedures for the people of the West Bank - as explained by the worshippers who arrived in Jerusalem and were met by the staff of the Wadi Hilweh Information Center -, the procedures are similar to the first Friday of the month of Ramadan, consisting of "obtaining a magnetic card, a permit from the "Coordinator Application", and the permit is for Friday only from 4:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., each person must return to the checkpoint from which he/she entered Jerusalem to sign the "fingerprint" to confirm his return to the West Bank, and the total number of those who will be allowed to enter is 10,000 Muslims, and as the ages are set, "men under the age of 55 and women under the age of 50 are prohibited from entering, while children under the age of 10 are allowed to enter.
The worshipers from the West Bank explained that they made several attempts until they were able to register on the coordinator's platform, each time they entered the application they were shown the message "The number is full", and at midnight they were able to register to enter Jerusalem and pray at Al-Aqsa.
The worshipers explained that obtaining the permit requires them to go to crossings designated for that, and be far from their residential areas "in other cities", and the center met a 64-year-old Palestinian from the city of Tulkarem, who had to go to the Qalandia checkpoint last Wednesday to obtain the permit.
The worshipers pointed out that the permit prohibits them from staying at Al-Aqsa and performing the evening prayers and Taraweeh in it, since it is assumed that they will return directly to the checkpoints to be able to arrive at five o'clock in the evening to check in their "return to the West Bank".
On the other hand, the occupation authorities prevented the Palestinian Red Crescent's ambulance crews and volunteers from entering the courtyards of the Al-Aqsa Mosque to provide their humanitarian and medical services to worshipers on the second Friday of the holy month of Ramadan without giving reasons, as the Crescent explained in its statement.
The Red Crescent added: "The occupation forces prevented the Red Crescent teams from establishing their field clinics in the vicinity of the city, to provide their services to worshipers coming from outside the city to pray in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, despite all the coordination attempts that took place with the Israeli side through the International Committee of the Red Cross to allow the teams to work.”
The Red Crescent said: "Preventing the Red Crescent from performing its humanitarian work is a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, which obligates the occupation forces not to obstruct the medical personnel and prevent them, but rather their mission must be facilitated and respected for its emblem, the "Red Crescent Badge", that is approved and protected by international standards, and this prohibition affects the safety of large numbers of worshipers and puts it at risk, especially on Fridays, which witness overcrowding in the courtyards of Al-Aqsa and the holy city and its surroundings.”
The Red Crescent added that preventing its crews from working in Al-Aqsa courtyards is a violation of the international agreements that acknowledge the responsibility of the Palestinian Red Crescent to provide emergency and humanitarian services in the geographical area of occupied Jerusalem.
The Red Crescent pointed out that it was present, every year during Ramadan, inside the Al-Aqsa courtyards to provide various humanitarian and medical services to thousands of worshipers through its mobile ambulance teams and medical points that it establishes in the Al-Aqsa courtyards and around the holy city.
In another context, the forces arrested the Jerusalemite activist Mohammad Abu al-Hummos as soon as he left Al-Aqsa through Lions Gate, beat him, and extended his detention until Saturday.
The forces also arrested a young man from Salah al-Din Street, under the pretext of "entering Jerusalem illegally".
The Israeli authorities have renewed the "travel-ban" order for the released prisoner Yacoub Abu Asab, noting that he recently received an order to expel him from Al-Aqsa Mosque until next May.
