A year of the war on the Gaza Strip…How did it pass for Jerusalem?
A year has passed since the war on the Gaza Strip, a war that resulted in the deaths of thousands of martyrs and tens of thousands of wounded and displaced people, in addition to the destruction of more than 80% of the Strip's facilities.
Since that day that changed the course of the region's history, another war has been raging in the city of Jerusalem, targeting Al-Aqsa, the people of Jerusalem and their property, and even their thoughts and words.
Wadi Hilweh Information Center monitored the events of the past year and prepared statistics on various violations in Jerusalem.
Al-Aqsa Mosque
From October 7, 2023 until October 7 today, Al-Aqsa Mosque has witnessed serious violations, not only in the number of intruders, but also in the policies followed and the imposition of sovereignty over it by force, and in the public statements of senior officials in regards to “the right of settlers to pray in it."
According to the monitoring of the Wadi Hilweh Information Center throughout the year, more than 52,900 extremists, including settlers and Jewish students, stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque, including ministers in the occupation government, members of the Knesset and rabbis.
The Information Center explained that one of the most prominent statements about Al-Aqsa Mosque was the statement of the Minister of Internal Security Itamar Ben Gvir, in which he announced his intention to build a synagogue in Al-Aqsa.
The center noted that Minister Ben Gvir, since assuming his position in the occupation government "early 2023", has stormed Al-Aqsa 6 times, including 3 times during the war, and the last storming was in mid-August.
Among the most prominent and dangerous violations that took place in Al-Aqsa Mosque were:
• On the fourth of this month, two settlers wearing religious clothing stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque through the Al-Qattaneen Gate and prayed in the square between the Al-Qibli and Al-Marwani prayer halls, prostrated themselves on the ground and blew the trumpet on the occasion of the Jewish New Year.
• Since August 13, settlers have been performing daily, collective and public prayers in the Al-Aqsa Mosque during the morning and afternoon incursion periods, and the scene of “singing, dancing, prostration” has been repeated daily in Al-Aqsa, especially in the eastern area of it “a few meters away from the Bab Al-Rahma prayer hall.”
• The Israeli flag was raised in Al-Aqsa Mosque several times, and the intruders wore clothes that carried pictures of the Israeli flag or the alleged temple, in addition to wearing prayer clothes and offering “vegetable offerings” inside it.
• With the first day of the war on the Gaza Strip, the occupation authorities imposed a tight siege on Al-Aqsa, preventing young men from entering and praying in it, and imposed strict restrictions on the entry of the elderly, and tried to prevent them from reaching it, and the strict restrictions continued until the month of Ramadan. During the holy month, Jerusalemites and residents of the Palestinian interior were allowed to enter it, and after Ramadan "on the first day of Eid al-Fiter" the restrictions returned "especially on Jewish holidays and religious occasions and Fridays, represented by random prevention of young men and boys, and assaulting them by beating and pushing and forcibly evacuating the vicinity of Al-Aqsa.
• During the year of war, and especially on Fridays, prayers were held in the streets and on the thresholds of Al-Aqsa "at the closest point that young men can reach, after they were prevented from entering Al-Aqsa."
• Restrictions were also imposed on the entry of foreign Muslims to Al-Aqsa.
Deportation decisions
The occupation authorities continued to issue deportation decisions from "Jerusalem, Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Old City, place of residence, preventing entry into the West Bank, and deportation from the streets of Jerusalem", and the center monitored 380 deportation decisions during the year of the war on Gaza.
Martyrs and detention of bodies
Palestinian and foreign martyrs were killed during confrontations in the city of Jerusalem, or after being targeted by gunfire under the pretext of "carrying out shooting, running over, or stabbing operations", or during the bombing in the Gaza Strip, and their number during the year of the war reached 39 martyrs, including a martyr from Turkey "under the pretext of carrying out a stabbing operation in the Old City of Jerusalem" in addition to 4 freed prisoners in the Gaza Strip and their families.
The occupation authorities continued 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
Arrests
Arrests in the city of Jerusalem did not stop throughout the days of the war on the Gaza Strip. The Wadi Hilweh Information Center in Jerusalem monitored 5,014 arrests from the city of Jerusalem, and most of the arrests were of young men from the West Bank under the pretext of entering Jerusalem illegally. The arrests also included residents from the Gaza Strip.
The Wadi Hilweh Information Center in Jerusalem explained that among those arrested during the year were 37 children "under 12 years old", 361 boys, and 162 girls.
The center explained that 80 "administrative detention" decisions were issued during the year.
The center explained that among those arrested were more than 2,700 arrests of West Bank and Gaza ID holders from Jerusalem.
Perhaps the most prominent charges directed at Jerusalemites during the war were "incitement via social media".
Demolition and bombing…Closure
Demolition operations continued by decisions of the occupation municipality, or bombing and closing of homes by military decisions for martyrs and prisoners from Jerusalem under the pretext of "carrying out operations", and closing facilities under the pretext of "employing workers from the West Bank or the Gaza Strip, or spending the night there".
The Wadi Hilweh Information Center - Jerusalem monitored 250 demolitions, bombing and closure operations, including 6 bombings of homes of the families of martyrs: Fadi Jamjoum, Khaled Al-Muhtaseb, Ibrahim and Murad Nimer, Khairy Alqam, and the child prisoner Mohammad Zalbani.
During the year of the war, the raids on towns and neighborhoods in the city of Jerusalem did not stop, as did the erection of checkpoints and the abuse of Jerusalemites, the imposition of taxes and various fines, in addition to targeting prisoners and their families with raids and the confiscation of their money and property, and the settlers' attacks on Jerusalemites with bullets, beatings, insults and the destruction of property continued as well.
