March 2024 in the city of Jerusalem
The Wadi Hilweh Information Center - Jerusalem issued its report for March 2024, during which it monitored violations in the city of Jerusalem, where shootings, arrest campaigns and raids continued, and restrictions were imposed on the entry of worshipers to Al-Aqsa and Christians to Jerusalem during Easter, in addition to the continuation of settler attacks.
Jerusalemite martyrs
On 12/3/2024, the child, Rami Hamdan Al-Halhouli, 12 years old, died after he was targeted by a sniper from inside a “watchtower” on the separation wall in the Shu’fat refugee camp, wounding him in the chest. The forces arrested the child while he was injured, then he was declared dead. The detained his body for about a week, before it was handed over to his family for burial in the Anata cemetery.
On 30/3/2024, the occupation authorities announced the assassination of the freed Jerusalemite prisoner - deported to the Gaza Strip - Zakaria Lutfi Najib, 67 years old, in the Gaza Strip.
Najib spent 22 years in occupation prisons, the last of which was in 1994 on charges of participating in the “kidnapping of Israeli soldier Nachshon Wachsman. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison, and he was freed in the “Shalit deal in 2011” and deported to the Gaza Strip.
Detaining martyrs’ bodies
The Israeli authorities continue the policy of "detaining the bodies of the martyrs in the refrigerators", and the Wadi Hilweh Information Center explained that 23 Jerusalemite martyrs are detained in the refrigerators. They are:
1. Martyr Mesbah Abu Sbeih; since October 2016
2. Martyr Fadi Al-Qunbar; since January 2017
3. Martyr Aziz Aweisat; since May 2018
4. Martyr Shaher Abu Khadija; since May 2021
5. Martyr Zuhdi Al-Taweel; since May 2021
6. Martyr Fadi Abu Shkheidem; since November 2021
7. Martyr Karim Jamal Al-Qawasmi; since March 2022
8. Martyr Uday Al-Tamimi; since October 2022
9. Martyr Amer Halabiya; since November 2022
10. Martyr Khairy Alqam; since January 2023
11. Martyr Hussein Qaraqe; since February 2023
12. Martyr Ishaq Al-Ajlouni; since June 2023
13. Martyr Khaled Al-Za’anin; since August 2023
14. Martyr Ali Al-Abbasi; since October 2023
15. Martyr Abdel Rahman Faraj; since October 2023
16. Martyr Khaled Al-Muhtaseb; since October 2023
17. Martyr Adam Abulhawa; since October 2023
18. Martyr Mohammad Omar Al-Farroukh (minor); since November 2023
19. Martyr Murad Nimer; since November 2023
20. Martyr Ibrahim Nimer; since November 2023
21. Martyr Ahmad Alayan; since December 2023
22. Martyr Wadi’ Alayan; since February 2024
23. Martyr Fadi Jamjoum; since February 2024
Al-Aqsa Mosque... restrictions, attacks, and settler incursions
For the fourth month in a row, and during the first and second Fridays of the month of March (March 1 and 8), the occupation authorities restricted entry to Al-Aqsa, set up checkpoints at its gates and the gates of the Old City and neighboring neighborhoods, and assaulted worshipers by beating, pushing, and arresting them. Prayers were held in the streets of Jerusalem and on the thresholds of Al-Aqsa despite the repression and persecution.
On the eve of the month of Ramadan, the occupation authorities set up checkpoints, placed iron barricades, and “cages for their forces” at the gates of Al-Aqsa and on the roads leading to it. On the first night of Taraweeh, the occupation forces prevented young men from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque, beat dozens of them, and pursued them in the roads of the Old City to keep them away from the vicinity of the mosque. The Ishaa and Taraweeh prayers were held in the town’s alleys, at the thresholds of Al-Aqsa, and on the Lions’ Gate road.
Throughout the days of the month of Ramadan, the forces were stationed at the gates of Al-Aqsa and on its roads, and deliberately stopped young men heading to Al-Aqsa, searched them, and conducted “field investigations” with them.
With the beginning of I’tikaf in Al-Aqsa Mosque at the end of March, the occupation forces began harassing and persecuting the worshippers. On the first night, they forced the worshipers to evacuate the courtyards and be present only inside the covered chapels, while they stormed the tents of the worshippers in the courtyards, checked personal identities in addition to searching the tents, and carried out arrests of the people performing I’tikaf.
The settlers’ raids on Al-Aqsa Mosque continued during the month of March, and with the beginning of Ramadan, they were limited to “one period of raids/the morning period.” More than 3,000 settlers carried out their raids on Al-Aqsa, and performed prayers during the raids. The raids were concentrated on the “Purim” holiday, on Preparatory fasting for Purim holiday, and the days of the holiday”; 601 extremists carried out their incursions into Al-Aqsa.
Three settlers tried to storm Al-Aqsa, during the Ishaa and Taraweeh prayers, and one of them was armed.
The occupation authorities prevented all ambulance crews from entering Al-Aqsa during the month of Ramadan, to provide the necessary medical services to those who are fasting and those arriving to the mosque, and on the first Friday of the month, they attacked some of them by beating, persecuting, and detaining them while they were trying to enter Al-Aqsa.
Restrictions and obstacles on “Easter” for Christians
Israeli measures and restrictions prevented the arrival of Palestinian Christians from the West Bank to the city of Jerusalem, to participate in the “Easter” rituals in the city of Jerusalem, especially in the procession of “Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday”, as the occupation authorities require Christians to obtain special permits to reach the city of Jerusalem, through the checkpoints set up at its entrances.
Settlers’ attacks
Settlers' attacks on Jerusalemites and their property continued during last March. At the beginning of the month, settlers stormed the "Bab al-Rahma Cemetery" located on the eastern wall of Al-Aqsa from the outside, and destroyed the gravestones of five graves and destroyed the materials used in their restoration, in addition to dancing and trampling on the graves.
Settlers also stormed the “Al-Sowaneh neighborhood” in Jerusalem, and vandalized the tires of vehicles belonging to the neighborhood’s residents.
Settlers also carried out attacks on Jerusalemites during their “Lights Festival” celebrations, directing insults and profanity at them and beating them. Attacks were also recorded in the Old City (New Gate, the Old City) and in the Ras Al-Amoud, Silwan neighborhood, in addition to attacks on Jerusalemites during their work on buses outside Jerusalem.
During last March, the settlers organized several demonstrations in front of the headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Refugees (UNRWA), in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in Jerusalem. They deliberately obstructed the entry of employees into the agency’s headquarters and directed insults at them. They placed bags on the agency’s gate “indicating the bodies,” and poured a red substance at the door, they raised Israeli flags and carried slogans against the agency, most notably “UNRWA is Hamas” and “a headquarters for terrorism”, and demanded the closure of the agency’s headquarters.
Pursuing Gaza patients... threatening to deport them
The occupation authorities decided to deport 20 Gazan Palestinians suffering from cancer, and receiving treatment in hospitals in Jerusalem and Israel, especially in the “Augusta Victoria and Tel Hashomer” hospitals. After a petition submitted by “Physicians for Human Rights” to the Supreme Court, the decision was frozen for a month.
Non-stop demolitions
The occupation municipality continued to carry out demolition operations or forced Jerusalemites to self-demolish their homes, under the pretext of building without a permit. The Information Center monitored 9 demolition operations in the city of Jerusalem during the month March 2024, including “a residential building, residential rooms, commercial facilities, and retaining walls.” Demolitions took place in the villages of Issawiya and Jabal Al-Mukabber, and Silwan.
Continuous arrests
The occupation authorities continued their arrest campaigns in the city of Jerusalem, and carried out hundreds of arrests from the city, including children, teenagers, women, and the elderly.
The last days of March witnessed arrests at the gates and courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque, under the pretext of “participating in chants in the courtyards of Al-Aqsa.”
The center explained that the occupation authorities continued the policy of “arresting or summoning freed prisoners immediately upon their release,” and imposed on them not to “hold any gathering, raise flags and banners, or launch fireworks,” while deporting one of them from the city of Jerusalem for 3 days.
Meanwhile, hundreds of arrests were carried out of Palestinians in Jerusalem, under the pretext of “entering Jerusalem illegally.” The arrests included more than 500 Palestinians “who hold a West Bank identity card,” and more than 60 Jerusalemites on suspicion of “transporting or providing accommodation for them.” Commercial establishments were also closed under the pretext of “employing workers from the West Bank without permits and high fines were imposed on them.”
Among the detainees was a 14-year-old boy, on suspicion of “carrying out a stabbing attack” in the “Nabi Yaqoub” settlement, according to a statement by the occupation police.
The occupation authorities continued their “campaign of retaliatory measures” against Jerusalemites and the families of prisoners and martyrs, by storming their homes and imposing various violations against them.
Deportations
The occupation authorities increased the issuance of deportation decisions, and the Information Center monitored 88 deportation decisions during the month of last March, which included “deportation from Jerusalem, Al-Aqsa, the Old City, Al-Aqsa, streets in Jerusalem, from places of residence, and preventing entry to the West Bank.”
The center explained that many decisions were delivered to Jerusalemites and Palestinians from the 1948 lands requiring their expulsion from Al-Aqsa for a week, then the decisions was renewed for them for periods ranging from one month to 6 months, and summonses to the Palestinians escalated before and during the month of Ramadan.
