Day 182: Jerusalem during “Al-Aqsa Flood” Operation
On the 182nd day of "Al-Aqsa Flood Operation", hundreds of thousands of worshipers flocked to Al-Aqsa Mosque, while the forces suppressed a “stand in Al-Aqsa” at dawn in support of Gaza with gas bombs, and carried out arrests and attacks on the worshipers.
The last Friday of Ramadan and Laylat al-Qader
The Islamic Endowments Department estimated the number of worshipers who performed the last Friday prayer of Ramadan at Al-Aqsa at 120,000 worshipers, and 200,000 worshipers who performed the Ishaa and Taraweeh prayers on the night of the twenty-seventh of Ramadan, “Laylat al-Qader,” and the dawn prayer was more than 65,000 worshipers.
Throughout the hours of Friday, Al-Aqsa Mosque was filled with worshipers who flocked to it since the early morning hours, performing prayers there and participating in religious lessons and Qur’an sessions.
Most of the worshipers were from the people of the Palestinian 1948 lands and Jerusalem, and foreign Muslims. As for the people of the West Bank, their numbers were small due to the imposed restrictions and procedures related to their entry into Jerusalem, the presence of a “magnetic card”, a permit from the “coordinator application”, the permit with specific times “for Fridays only, with specific hours”. Every person must return to the checkpoint from which he left towards Jerusalem to “fingerprint” to confirm his return to the West Bank. The total number of people who will be allowed to enter is 10,000 worshipers. As for the ages of worshipers, “Men under the age of 55 are prohibited from entering, and women under the age of 50 are prohibited from entering, and only children under 10 years of age are allowed to enter.
Worshipers from the West Bank explained that they were informed that the permit on the last Friday, because it was Laylat al-Qader, “would be renewed until ten o’clock on Saturday morning,” while some of them confirmed that it was not renewed for them after they performed the Ishaa and Taraweeh prayers at Al-Aqsa, which forced them to leave the mosque immediately.
Checkpoints and deployment of forces in Jerusalem
The occupation forces also set up their checkpoints on all roads leading to Al-Aqsa and the neighborhoods close to it, closed the streets surrounding the Old City, and deployed their forces in all areas, especially on the roads leading to Al-Aqsa, the alleys of the Old City, and at the gates.
The forces attacked worshipers arriving at Al-Aqsa - while leaving or entering it - by beating them with batons, pushing them, detaining them, conducting field investigations, and carrying out arrests.
In the dawn hours, a demonstration was launched in Al-Aqsa in support of the Gaza Strip and Al-Aqsa, during which a “drone” dropped gas bombs on Al-Aqsa squares, and several injuries were recorded among the worshipers.
After the Taraweeh prayers, a demonstration was launched in Al-Aqsa, and slogans were chanted in support of the Gaza Strip and others in support of Al-Aqsa, and drones flew above the courtyards of Al-Aqsa during that.
Arrests
The lawyers of the Wadi Hilweh Information Center, Siraj Abu Arafa and Firas Al-Jabrini, explained that the arrests began from the hours of dawn until after midnight, and included young men and boys, some of whom were severely beaten during the arrest.
They noted that a number of detainees were released on the condition of being deported from Jerusalem or expelled from Al-Aqsa Mosque.
They explained that more than 22 arrests were recorded from Al-Aqsa and its vicinity.
