Day 211: Jerusalem during “Al-Aqsa Flood” Operation
On the 211th day of "Al-Aqsa Flood Operation", the occupation authorities imposed restrictions on the entry of Christians into the Church of the Holy Sepulcher on Holy Saturday, while arrests and prosecutions of Palestinians in Jerusalem continued under the pretext of “entering Jerusalem illegally.”
The Wadi Hilweh Information Center - Jerusalem explained that the occupation authorities deployed their forces and placed iron barriers around the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the Old City of Jerusalem, and in all the lanes and alleys leading to it, specifying the numbers of those allowed to enter the church and its courtyards and those prohibited from doing so.
Hundreds of Christians gathered on checkpoints and iron barriers set up in the Old City, in an attempt to enter the church or reach the nearest point to it to wait for the holy light to emerge from the church. During this, the forces attacked those present by pushing them, and several attacks were recorded.
Inside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, verbal altercations took place with the forces present and deployed among the pilgrims, during which they arrested the Greek consul’s guard, beat and pushed him, and took him to the Al-Qishla police station in the Old City of Jerusalem, and after detaining him for about an hour, they released him.
As for most of those present in the church and its surroundings, they were Christians from Jerusalem and the Palestinian 1948 lands, and foreign pilgrims, while the occupation prevented Christians from the West Bank from entering Jerusalem and participating in this year’s Easter celebrations by refusing to issue them permits to enter Jerusalem.
On the eve of Easter week, the people of the Christian Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem issued a statement that this year’s celebrations would be limited to religious ceremonies and prayers, due to the war on Gaza.
On the other hand, eyewitnesses reported to the Wadi Hilweh Information Center - Jerusalem that, late on Saturday evening, the police pursued at least 20 Palestinians in the Al-Shayah area in Al-Tur, and detained them on the ground before arresting them.
In the afternoon hours, the forces arrested a boy from the Palestinian 1948 lands after stopping him in Jerusalem, and after detention and investigation, he was released.
After midnight, confrontations broke out in the Shu’fat refugee camp, and the forces heavily threw gas bombs into the streets of the camp.
