August 2024 in the city of Jerusalem
Wadi Hilweh Information Center - Jerusalem issued its report for the month of August 2024, in which it monitored violations in the city of Jerusalem. During August, serious violations were recorded in Al-Aqsa Mosque on the official level by ministers in the occupation government and on the field level by storming the mosque, in addition to the continuation of arrest campaigns, demolitions, storming and shooting in the city of Jerusalem.
Martyrs and detention of their bodies
On 13/8/2024, the young man Shadi Wissam Shiha, 16 years old, from the town of Anata, was martyred after being targeted by the occupation forces' bullets during clashes in the town, and his body is still being held by the occupation authorities.
On 26/8/2024, Khalil Salem Zyadeh, 41 years old, from the village of Beit Safafa, was martyred by settlers' bullets during their storming and attacking the village of "Wadi Rahhal" south of Bethlehem.
The occupation authorities continue the policy of "detaining the bodies of martyrs in refrigerators and in the numbered cemeteries", and the Wadi Hilweh Information Center explained that the bodies of 26 Jerusalemite martyrs, including "6 boys", are still being held in refrigerators or in the numbered cemeteries, and 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
24. Martyr Nour Nizar Shihabi, since May 2024
25. Mohammad Ghaleb Shihab, since July 2024
26. Shadi Shiha; since August 2024
Al-Aqsa Mosque: Dangerous violations
The month of August brought serious developments to Al-Aqsa Mosque, which, according to warnings from Israeli officials and soldiers, threaten to explode the situation. The statements of ministers and their storming of Al-Aqsa on the one hand, and the daily collective and public prayers inside it on the other hand, are escalating and increasing.
On the official level, Minister of Internal Security Itamar Ben Gavir said in a statement that he "intends to establish a Jewish synagogue in Al-Aqsa," stressing the right of Jews to pray in it, and that there are no restrictions on prayer inside it.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Heritage in the occupation government announced for the first time a program of "guided tours in Al-Aqsa Mosque," and the ministry said: "For the first time, it will allow thousands of Jews and hundreds of thousands of tourists who storm Al-Aqsa every year to see the Jewish heritage of the mountain," according to their claim, and the ministry seeks to start this program in conjunction with the upcoming Jewish holidays.
Member of Knesset, Moshe Feiglin, said during his storming of Al-Aqsa: “For the first time in 30 years, I am performing a full prayer in Al-Aqsa, and I consider this a ‘major change’ in the way settlers storm Al-Aqsa, confirming ‘Israeli sovereignty’ over Al-Aqsa.”
On field, more than 7,600 settlers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque during the month of August, through the Dung Gate, whose keys have been controlled by the occupation authorities since the occupation of Jerusalem. The storming takes place during two periods, "morning and afternoon", under the protection of forces and officers, amid harassment and restrictions imposed on Muslims' entry into it. The Information Center explained that 2,958 settlers stormed Al-Aqsa in one day, "the anniversary of the so-called destruction of the Temple", and the Minister of Internal Security Itamar Ben-Gavir, the Minister of the Negev and Galilee Yitzhak Wasser-Lav, and Member of Knesset Amit Halevi participated in the storming and supervised it. They participated in collective and public prayers in Al-Aqsa, and chanted the anthem "The people of Israel live".
On the anniversary of the so-called "destruction of the temple", the police allowed large groups of settlers to storm Al-Aqsa, reaching 200 settlers in one group. They also allowed 3 groups of settlers to be inside Al-Aqsa, while the settlers prayed, sang, danced with flags, clapped and whistled, and chanted slogans specific to this holiday. At the eastern wall of Al-Aqsa, the most prominent stations where collective prayers were performed and settlers were prostrating several times in the place, in addition to singing along the path of the incursions. Dozens of settlers, for the first time, prostrated themselves near Al-Qattaneen Gate opposite the Dome of the Rock. The settlers also raised Israeli flags several times.
The scene of the settlers' collective and public prayers in Al-Aqsa was repeated over the last two weeks of August, and the settlers published pictures and video clips documenting their prayers to Al-Aqsa, and their joy in praying inside it became a normal and daily thing without arrest, and without any obstacle to prayer.
On the eve of the so-called "Destruction of the Temple" anniversary, the settlers organized their "annual march", where the march started from the Ma'man Allah area in West Jerusalem and headed towards the roads of Jaffa, Damascus, Herods, Lions, and Dung gates, arriving at the Al-Buraq Wall. The day before, the "Temple Groups" held a conference in cooperation with the Jerusalem Municipality to commemorate the anniversary, and organized a "human chain" around the Jerusalem wall and the Old City, during which flags of the alleged temple were raised.
The settlers also attacked Jerusalemite merchants on the anniversary of the "Destruction of the Temple" anniversary, and vandalized the locks of dozens of shops in Old Jerusalem, and destroyed the shops' merchandise, in addition to vandalizing vehicles and motorcycles.
The settlers attacked the worshipers while they were heading to prayer at dawn, and around the clock, they directed insults and obscene language at the Palestinians and merchants and spat at them, during their prayers at the external gates of Al-Aqsa.
The occupation authorities continued to impose restrictions on the entry of worshipers to Al-Aqsa, especially on Fridays, by setting up iron barriers on the roads leading to Al-Aqsa and stationing themselves at the gates of the mosque, preventing hundreds of young men and boys in particular from entering it, and assaulting and arresting many of them.
The occupation forces also prevented a number of those banned from entering Al-Aqsa from sitting on the steps of the mosque to listen to the sermon and perform prayers, and forcibly removed them outside the Old City.
The occupation authorities also continued to impose restrictions on the entry of Muslims from Turkey, Britain and South Africa to Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Arrests
The occupation authorities continued their arrest campaigns in the city of Jerusalem, and the Wadi Hilweh Information Center - Jerusalem monitored 1,000 arrests from the city, including "795 Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza Strip", on the pretext of entering the city illegally.
Among those arrested, at the beginning of last August, was Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, the Imam and preacher of Al-Aqsa Mosque, after his home in the Al-Sowaneh neighborhood in Jerusalem was stormed, and he was banned from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque for 6 months. Sheikh Sabri was arrested after delivering the Friday sermon in Al-Aqsa, in which he mourned the head of the Hamas movement, Ismail Haniyeh, and the worshipers’ takbeers rose during that. After Sheikh Sabri finished his sermon, the Israeli Minister of Interior, Moshe Arbel, demanded that Sheikh Sabri’s identity be revoked, under the pretext of “committing security violations and breach of trust,” for mourning Ismail Haniyeh in Al-Aqsa, who, according to them, is one of the most prominent officials responsible for the events of “October 7.” Meanwhile, the Minister of Internal Security in the occupation government, Itamar Ben Gavir, demanded that the Public Prosecution open an immediate investigation with Sheikh Sabri, and after about an hour, the prosecution agreed to open an immediate investigation, after examining the “Friday sermon,” and he was immediately arrested. The settlers and various organizations also called for bombing Sheikh Sabri’s home, expelling him from Jerusalem, and published pictures of the Sheikh’s home and identifying its location.
Deportations
The occupation authorities continued to issue deportation decisions, as the Wadi Hilweh Information Center in Jerusalem monitored 36 deportation decisions that included "deportations from the city of Jerusalem, Al-Aqsa, the Old City, and from the place of residence, in addition to preventing entry into the West Bank."
The Information Center explained that the deportation decisions from the city of Jerusalem targeted released prisoners, as the Jerusalemite prisoner is arrested or summoned immediately upon his release from prison, and is released under conditions including "deportation from the city, or from the place of residence, and preventing any celebrations or gatherings."
The center added that the deportation decisions are issued for the first time for a period of days, then renewed for several months.
Demolition and displacement
The occupation municipality continued its demolition operations in the city of Jerusalem, as the Wadi Hilweh Information Center in Jerusalem monitored 34 demolition operations in the city, including 8 demolition operations carried out by their owners "self-demolished."
Among the demolitions were 15 "residential, commercial and agricultural" facilities in the town of At-Tur, which were implemented to expand one of the main roads and streets in the site, coinciding with the start of work on the third and final section of the "American Street", which is a tunnel from the town of Silwan to the Al-Zaytoona checkpoint in At-Tur. Among the demolitions were "4" residential and commercial facilities in the Wadi Al-Joz neighborhood, in favor of the "Silicon Valley" project, which threatens 200 commercial and industrial facilities in the "industrial zone", on an area of 30 dunoms, and according to the photos published about the project, it consists of "high-tech" technology companies, commercial complexes, hotels, a technical college, and the expansion of green spaces and streets in the area. At the beginning of this year, the municipality approved the Silicon Valley plan, after years of research in the municipal committees.
The municipality began distributing demolition notices to garage owners collectively in 2020, and the cases are still in court.
The municipality continued to distribute summonses to follow up with the municipality and demolition notices in all towns and neighborhoods in the city of Jerusalem.
Meanwhile, the occupation authorities closed two commercial establishments in Jerusalem, under the pretext of "employing illegal residents in Jerusalem."
Preventing and suppressing events
During August, the occupation intelligence prevented two events in Jerusalem, the first of which was the showing of Palestinian films about the Gaza Strip - Untold Stories from Gaza "From Zero Distance", 22 Films 22 Artists from Gaza", at the Yabous Cultural Center, by storming the center and preventing the showing of the films.
They also prevented the holding of a "honoring ceremony for high school students" in the Safsaf Hall in the Wadi al-Hummus neighborhood in Jerusalem, which was called for by the "Wafaa for Women and Children" Association, as warnings and threats were issued to storm the hall if the event was held.
Seizing a property in Silwan
The Ateret Cohanim Association seized the property of the Shehadeh family in the Batn al-Hawa neighborhood in the town of Silwan. The family's property consists of 3 floors (5 residential apartments), and they have been living there since the 1960s. Over the past years, the family has been fighting in court to prove their right to the property, until the Supreme Court issued a decision to evict them from it under the pretext of "Jewish ownership of the land on which the houses are built." The property is located within the 5200 square meters that the Ateret Cohanim Association claims that the land has been owned by settlers since 1881. Since 2015, it has been pursuing the families with legal notices and eviction notices. The risk of eviction threatens 87 families, comprising between 600-680 people.