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Jerusalem during the year 2024
January 1, 2025

The year 2024 brought a large number of events and violations against the city of Jerusalem and its people, the repercussions of which may continue for years to come. The Wadi Hilweh Information Center-Jerusalem monitored the most prominent of these events, in a year in which the war continues on the Gaza Strip, where all cities and infrastructure were destroyed and more than 150 thousand people were killed and injured. Another war in Jerusalem is taking place at an accelerated pace, on Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Old City, and the city’s neighborhoods and towns through raids, settlements, confiscations, and demolition. A hidden war continues against its people through killing, arrest, deportation, imposing fines, and suppression, without distinguishing between an elderly man, a child, or a woman, nor an official or an ordinary citizen. In its annual report issued by the Wadi Hilweh Information Center-Jerusalem, it addresses the violations in terms of their importance and chronological sequence, which were as follows:

Jerusalem Martyrs

Jerusalemites were killed on the land of the city of Jerusalem and inside the Palestinian 1948 lands, as well as young men from the West Bank and from the Palestinian 1948 lands and a Turkish man in the city, by bullets of occupation soldiers or settlers’ guards, under the most prominent pretexts of stabbing or running over attempts or in confrontations and raids. For the second year, Jerusalemite who were deported to the Gaza Strip were killed during the Israeli war on the Strip, as the Information Center monitored the sequence of martyrs’ deaths as follows:

• 22/1/2024, the child Jinan Abu Sneineh - the daughter of the freed prisoner and deportee Shuaib Abu Sneineh - was killed in an Israeli raid on the Gaza Strip. He had been arrested in 1998 from the town of Silwan, sentenced to life imprisonment, and released in the “Wafa al-Ahrar/Shalit Deal” in 2011.

• 2/5/2024, the child Wadi’ Shadi Alayan, 13 years old, from Jabal al-Mukabber village, was killed at the entrance to the town of Eizariya, east of Jerusalem, under the pretext of "attempting to carry out a stabbing operation after being stopped for inspection."

• 2/12/2024, the boy Mohammad Tariq Abu Sneineh, 15 years old, from the village of Eizariya, was killed by the occupation forces' bullets on al-Wad Street in the Old City of Jerusalem, under the pretext of "attempting to carry out a stabbing operation."

• 16/2/2024, Martyr Fadi Ahmed Jamjoum, from Shu’fat refugee camp, was killed after carrying out a shooting operation in the Kiryat Malachi area near Ashkelon, which led to the killing of two Israelis and wounding several others.

• 12/3/2024, the child Rami Hamdan Al-Halhouli, 12 years old, was killed after being targeted by a sniper from inside a "watchtower" on the separation wall in Shu’fat refugee camp.

• 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 had spent 22 years in the occupation prisons, and was sentenced to 25 years in prison, and was released in the "Shalit deal in 2011" and deported to the Gaza Strip.

• 30/4/2024, the Turkish man, Hasan Saklana, 34 years old, was killed after carrying out a stabbing operation against a Border Guard officer at Herods Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem.

• 16/5/2024, the youth, Nour Nizar Shehabi, 17 years old, from the al-Sowaneh neighborhood in Jerusalem, was killed by the occupation forces at Herods Gate in Jerusalem, under the pretext of attempting to carry out a stabbing operation.

• 14/7/2024, the youth, Mohammad Ghaleb Shahab, from the Kufor Aqab neighborhood, was killed under the pretext of "carrying out a run-over operation" in the city of Ramla.

• 14/8/2004, the youth, Shadi Wissam Shiha, 16 years old, from the town of Anata, was killed during clashes in the town.

• 26/8/2024, the youth, Khalil Salem Zyadeh, 41 years old, from the village of Beit Safafa, was killed by settlers' bullets during their storming and attacking of the village of "Wadi Rahhal" south of Bethlehem.

• 15/9/2024, the young man Zayed Abu Sbeih, 33 years old, from "Ara'ara al-Naqab", was killed after carrying out a stabbing operation in the Damascus Gate area.

• 18/9/2004, the boy Hani Majdi al-Kari, 16 years old, from Shu’fat refugee camp, was killed during the storming of the camp.

• 7/10/2024, the child Hatem Sami Ghaith, 13 years old, from the town of Silwan, was killed during the forces' storming of Qalandia refugee camp, north of Jerusalem.

• 27/10/2024, the young man Sami Yehya al-Amoud, 40 years old, from Shu’fat refugee camp, was killed on the road between "Anata and Hizma" northeast of Jerusalem, under the pretext of "carrying out a run-over operation against soldiers".

• 3/12/2024, the young man Omar Shweiki, 15 years old, from the town of Silwan, was killed by settler guards in the town.

Detaining the bodies of martyrs

The occupation authorities continue to detain the bodies of martyrs in refrigerators or numbered graves, a policy that the occupation authorities have been following for years, and has increased significantly in recent years for martyrs who carry out operations. Since the war on the Gaza Strip, the bodies of martyrs who were killed during confrontations have been detained, as the Wadi Hilweh Information Center has been and continues to document the names of the detained martyrs and the date of their detention. Last year, 2024, the occupation authorities detained the bodies of 7 Jerusalemite martyrs, and the bodies detained from Jerusalem 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

27. Sami Al-Amoud; since October 2024

28. Omar Shweiki, since October 2024

Al-Aqsa Mosque…Dangerous official statements translated on the ground!

The year 2024 was a difficult year for Al-Aqsa Mosque; with attempts to impose control over the mosque and begin implementing plans that have been talked about for many years in the corridors of the Knesset or in government and party meetings, as an Israeli minister announced his intention to build a synagogue in Al-Aqsa and stressed the right of Jews to pray in it, and his statements were quickly translated into daily actions and behaviors by settlers in the mosque, by taking the eastern area of ​​it as the main place for prayer and sitting considering it as the main gate to the alleged temple, in addition to that, sessions and conferences were held on the mosque to discuss ways to Judaize it and impose control over it.

As for the "daily incursions" into Al-Aqsa, which are monitored by the Wadi Hilweh Information Center on a daily basis, and which are carried out under the supervision and guard of the occupation forces through the Dung Gate, whose keys have been controlled by the occupation authorities since the occupation of Jerusalem, they take place in two periods, "morning and afternoon", and the incursions are carried out on a daily basis except on Fridays, Saturdays, holidays and religious occasions. The groups of intruders march towards the courtyard of the Al-Qibli Mosque to the eastern area of ​​Al-Aqsa, from where the groups continue their march towards the gates of Al-Aqsa "the northern wall" passing through the Lions, Hutta, and King Faisal gates, then west towards Al-Qattaneen Gate, then exiting from Al-Silsileh Gate.

More than 60,000 extremist settlers and Jewish students stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque during the year 2024, and among them were more than 53,600 settlers.

Settlers took advantage of Jewish holidays and the beginning of each Hebrew month to storm Al-Aqsa in large numbers and pray inside it. During the days and periods of the holidays, the occupation authorities impose restrictions on the entry of Muslims to Al-Aqsa, and at times completely prevented their entry until the end of the storming periods.

During the days of the Jewish holidays and on the outside of the gates of Al-Aqsa, settlers organized marches and collective and individual prayers, raised the Israeli flag, blew the trumpet, tried to offer animal sacrifices and prayed with plant sacrifices.

During the holidays, the occupation authorities imposed a tight siege on the Old City and Al-Aqsa Mosque, and prevented entry to Al-Aqsa until the end of the two storming periods.

The Information Center monitored the violations and practices in Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the following months - according to the chronological order - had the largest number of intruders:

• In March, 3262 extremists stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque, including 330 on the "Purim" holiday.

• In April, 5670 extremists stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque, including 4345 on Passover.

• In May, 4276 extremists stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque, with the most prominent occasions in this month being "Torch Day, Holocaust Remembrance Day, Independence Day".

• On 22/5/2024, Minister of Internal Security Itamar Ben-Gvir, accompanied by the head of the Temple Mount Administration Organization, stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque, including 447 on the "Little/Second Passover".

• In June, 5190 extremists stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque, including 1601 on “Jerusalem Unification Day,” the anniversary of the occupation of East Jerusalem according to the Hebrew calendar, and 668 on the anniversary of “the descent of the Torah.”

• On 18/7/2024, Minister of Internal Security Itamar Ben-Gvir stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque.

• In August, 7702 extremists stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque, including 2958 on the anniversary of the “Destruction of the Temple,” when Minister of Internal Security Itamar Ben-Gvir and Minister of the Negev and Galilee Yitzhak Wasser-Lav stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque that day, and he declared that he intended to build a Jewish synagogue in Al-Aqsa, stressing the right of Jews to pray there, and that there were no restrictions on prayer inside it.

• In September, 4697 extremists stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque.

• In October, 10130 extremists stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque, starting with the Jewish New Year, then “Yom Kippur”, followed by the week of the Sukkot, and ending with the “Joy of the Torah” holiday.

• 4/10/2024, two settlers wearing religious clothing/tallit stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque, through the Al-Qattaneen Gate - one of the gates of Al-Aqsa located on the western side of it, and walked towards the square between the Al-Qibli and Al-Marwani prayer halls, on the southern side of Al-Aqsa, and during their walk they prayed, then blew the shofar and prostrated themselves on the ground.

• In December, 5650 settlers stormed Al-Aqsa, including 1227 during the Hanukkah holiday.

• On 26/12/2024 Minister of Internal Security Itamar Ben Gvir stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque.

• The Information Center indicated that Minister Ben Gvir stormed Al-Aqsa 4 times during the year 2024.

The most prominent violations that took place in Al-Aqsa, which the Information Center monitored during the past year 2024, were dancing, singing, and group prayers, chanting the Israeli anthem, a rabbi wearing the “Tefillin” for prayer inside synagogues, wearing shirts bearing pictures and phrases of the Temple and demolishing Al-Aqsa, raising the Israeli flag on several days and occasions, blowing the trumpet “several times,” and bringing in “plant offerings” on the Sukkot holiday, wedding, circumcision, and puberty blessings, and commemorating the dead settlers and soldiers, and praying for Israeli prisoners in the Gaza Strip.

The occupation authorities imposed restrictions on the entry of worshipers to Al-Aqsa on the first day of Eid al-Adha, to perform the Eid prayer, and prevented thousands from entering it and assaulted worshipers.

In July, restrictions were imposed on the entry of worshipers to Al-Aqsa, to participate in honoring the pilgrims.

Since October 7, 2023, the occupation authorities have imposed a tight siege on Al-Aqsa Mosque; preventing young men from entry to it, and restrictions were imposed on the entry of the elderly and women, and with the beginning of the month of Ramadan, the people of Jerusalem and the Palestinian interior were allowed to enter Al-Aqsa.

Immediately after the end of the month of Ramadan, restrictions were imposed again on the entry of worshipers to Al-Aqsa Mosque, especially on Fridays "Fajr and Noon" prayers, by setting up barriers on the roads leading to Al-Aqsa Mosque and the gates of the Old City, and preventing entry to it randomly.

The occupation authorities continued to deploy their special forces in the courtyards of Al-Aqsa on Fridays, and to be present among the worshipers, and this procedure has been carried out every Friday since October 7, 2023.

Ramadan and Al-Aqsa

In the midst of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, and with the approach of the month of Ramadan, the tension had reached its peak and preparations for this month had reached the brink of explosion, but things were calm and passed peacefully despite the restrictions on young people and the siege imposed on Al-Aqsa. The Information Center monitored the most prominent events in the month of Ramadan as follows:

• Special sessions were held for officials in the Israeli government and the police to discuss the entry of worshipers to Al-Aqsa during the month of Ramadan. The Israeli "War Cabinet" decided to withdraw security powers from the Minister of Internal Security Ben Gvir, who demanded imposing restrictions on worshipers coming to Al-Aqsa. The cabinet said that the police would determine the number of worshipers and would impose individual restrictions on their entry according to "intelligence" information.

• The occupation authorities imposed a series of restrictions on the entry of Muslims to Al-Aqsa from the West Bank, which were represented by "obtaining a magnetic card, a permit from the Coordinator application, and the permit is for one day only from 4 am to 5 pm, and the total number of those who will be allowed to enter is 10 thousand worshipers, and the ages were specified "men under 55 years old and women under 50 years old are prohibited from entering, while children under 10 years old were allowed to enter.

• The occupation authorities prevented all ambulance crews from entering Al-Aqsa during the month of Ramadan, to provide the necessary medical services to the fasting people and those coming to the mosque, and on the first Friday of the month, they assaulted some of them by beating, chasing and detaining them, while they were trying to enter Al-Aqsa.

• Pursuing the worshipers in Al-Aqsa, by forcing them to vacate the courtyards and only be present inside the covered prayer halls, and carrying out repeated raids on the tents of the worshipers in the courtyards, to check and search the identities of those present, and carrying out repeated arrests from them.

• On the 5th and 6th of April, the last ten days of Ramadan, a drone dropped tear gas bombs on worshippers at dawn, during a vigil organized in support of the Gaza Strip and against the genocide in the Strip, and suffocation cases were recorded among the fasting worshippers.

• Three settlers - one of whom was armed - tried to storm Al-Aqsa, during the Isha and Taraweeh prayers on one of the nights of Ramadan.

Restrictions and obstacles on Christian Holidays

Christian Jerusalemites were subjected to oppression and restrictions during religious holidays and occasions, by preventing them from reaching and praying in churches, especially in the Old City of Jerusalem, or by limiting the number of worshipers in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, and assaulting them on the barriers placed on the roads leading to the churches. The Information Center monitored the most prominent of these violations as follows:

• In March, the occupation authorities imposed restrictions on the entry of Christians from the West Bank to the city of Jerusalem to participate in the rituals of the "Glorious Easter" in the Old City of Jerusalem, especially in the Palm Sunday procession, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. This year, they were limited to religious rituals due to the war on the Gaza Strip.

• In May, the occupation authorities imposed restrictions on the entry of Christians to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher on "Holy Saturday", and the forces imposed a siege on the surroundings of the Old City; by placing barriers and iron barricades and closing some roads leading to the church, and limited the number of those allowed to enter the church and its courtyards, and several attacks on Christian worshipers were recorded by pushing and beating at police checkpoints.

• The forces assaulted the guard of the Greek consul inside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and arrested him.

• November: Storming of the Church of the Eleuthero on the Mount of Olives and the arrest of two employees assigned to secure the visit that was scheduled to be made by French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot.

In numbers... Arrests from Jerusalem

Arrests in the city of Jerusalem did not stop during 2024, and the largest number of arrests were of Palestinians from the cities of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, on the pretext of "illegal residence in Jerusalem." The Wadi Hilweh Information Center - Jerusalem monitored the arrest of students from inside schools, and young men from inside hospitals in the city of Jerusalem, as the forces carried out arrests of those injured by police or settler bullets, some of whom were indicted and are still in prison, or were transferred to house arrest.

The Wadi Hilweh Information Center in Jerusalem monitored 8,630 cases of arrest in the city of Jerusalem, including 6,551 cases of arrest of Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza Strip while they were in Jerusalem, 34 children “under the age of responsibility/under 12 years old”, 310 boys, and 100 females, including “12 girls and a child”.

The occupation authorities continued the policy of "arresting or summoning released prisoners immediately upon their release" or summoning them for investigation, and imposed various decisions on them, most notably deporting them from the city of Jerusalem or their place of residence for several days, and not to hold any gathering, raising flags and banners, or launching firecrackers in Jerusalem.

The occupation authorities continued targeting prisoners, released prisoners, and their families, including "prisoners who were released in the exchange deal" by storming their homes, searching them, and confiscating some contents "money or gold jewelry", in addition to issuing random violations against families, withdrawing and canceling licenses for "vehicles and motorcycles", filing compensation cases for settlers against released prisoners, arresting or summoning them for investigation, and sentencing them to actual imprisonment.

The occupation authorities decided to deport a large number of Palestinians from Gaza who suffer from cancer and are receiving treatment in hospitals in Jerusalem and Israel, especially in the Augusta Victoria and Tel Hashomer hospitals. After a petition submitted by the "Physicians for Human Rights" organization to the Supreme Court, the decision was frozen, and since October 2023, house arrest has continued to be imposed on patients and their families from the Gaza Strip in their place of residence in the city of Jerusalem.

Among those subjected to summonses and arrests are figures and officials, including:

• Governor of Jerusalem Adnan Ghaith: During the year 2024 Ghaith was summoned for investigation several times, and was handed decisions prohibiting him from entering the West Bank, "renewed for 6 consecutive years", and he was placed under house arrest in the town of Silwan, and an indictment was filed against him that included "violating the decision to ban him from entering the West Bank", and he was also banned from traveling and communicating with a number of Palestinian figures, and he was banned from participating in any activity in Jerusalem.

• Head of the Supreme Islamic Council and preacher of Al-Aqsa Mosque Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, 86 years old: During the year 2024, he was arrested and summoned for investigation several times and various threats were directed against him by ministers and settlers, including withdrawing his identity, expelling him from Jerusalem, and demolishing his home, until an indictment was filed against him that included "encouraging to commit terrorism and incitement", and he was also expelled from Al-Aqsa Mosque and banned from traveling.

• Former Jerusalem Minister Khaled Abu Arafa and MP Ahmed Attoun as the Israeli authorities renewed their administrative detention during 2024.

• Jerusalemite activist Abdul Latif Ghaith, Jerusalemite activist and director of the Al-Dameer Foundation: Renewing the decision to ban him from entering the West Bank for the 24th time in a row “since 14 years,” in addition to a decision to prevent him from communicating with a number of Palestinian figures.

In numbers...Deportation decisions

The authorities use the "deportation" policy as a form of punishment and implement it against those they consider a threat to them. The Wadi Hilweh Information Center has monitored nearly 400 deportation decisions that included deportation from the city of Jerusalem, place of residence, Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Old City, or the streets of Jerusalem, or preventing entry into the West Bank, in addition to deportation from the Palestinian territories "by preventing foreigners from entering through the crossings and the airport."

The center said that among the decisions are: 38 deportation decisions from the city of Jerusalem, 197 deportation decisions from Al-Aqsa, 87 from the Old City, and 10 preventing entry into the West Bank. The deportation period extends from several days to several months, and it is possible to renew it immediately upon its expiration.

In numbers... Demolitions in Jerusalem

The occupation authorities continued demolitions in the city of Jerusalem during the year 2024, under the pretext of building without a permit, in favor of municipal projects, or as a "punitive" measure against the families of Jerusalemite martyrs.

The Information Center monitored 251 demolitions, bombing and bulldozing operations, including residential buildings, homes, commercial and agricultural facilities, foundations, walls, rooms and barracks, bulldozing of land, foundations of homes, and mosques.

Under the threat of imposing fines or actual imprisonment, the occupation municipality forced Jerusalemites to carry out the demolition decisions themselves, "forced self-demolition", and the center monitored "100 self-demolition operations" of the demolitions that took place in the city, and the municipality gave Jerusalemites the choice between carrying out the demolition themselves or it would do so and they would have to pay the costs for "its bulldozers, crews, accompanying forces and workers".

Among the demolitions were the bombing of 4 homes of Jerusalemite martyrs, and the closure of 14 facilities under the pretext of "the presence of workers from the West Bank or Gaza inside them".

The center said that the year 2024 witnessed mass demolitions in the city of Jerusalem, especially in the towns of Silwan and Anata.

The center added that the occupation municipality began mass demolitions in the Al-Bustan neighborhood in the town of Silwan after freezing demolition decisions for 16 years. The center said that the occupation municipality decided to demolish the Al-Bustan neighborhood in 2004, to implement a plan on its ruins, "The King's Garden", and in 2005 began distributing demolition notices and warnings. After international pressure and the movement of international and local human rights organizations and diplomatic action, the demolition decisions were frozen, and the residents began, through teams of engineers and lawyers, to submit structural plans to organize and develop the neighborhood, open streets, and allocate sites for infrastructure and public facilities "such as schools and playgrounds".

The center added that the occupation municipality suddenly rejected in March 2021 the engineering plans for the Al-Bustan neighborhood and refused to extend the freeze on the decisions to demolish the neighborhood's homes. The center said that at the end of last year, the occupation authorities escalated the extensive demolitions in the neighborhood, in implementation of the decision.

The most prominent thing demolished during the past year in the Al-Bustan neighborhood was the Silwan protest tent, which was set up in 2009 in rejection of the demolition and forced displacement decisions. The tent was the main address for the activities of the entire town and for diplomatic delegations and human rights organizations. The Al-Bustan Center was also demolished, as were the homes of several families in the town.

In the Wadi Al-Joz neighborhood, the occupation municipality began demolishing commercial facilities in favor of the "Silicon Valley" project, which threatens about 200 commercial and industrial facilities in the "industrial zone", on an area of ​​30 dunoms, to establish "high-tech" technology companies, commercial complexes, hotels, a technical college, and to expand green spaces and streets in the area. At the beginning of 2024, the municipality approved the Silicon Valley plan, after years of research in the municipal committees.

In July, the occupation municipal court issued a decision to demolish the Wadi Hilweh Information Center-Jerusalem in the town of Silwan within a year, in addition to imposing a fine of 20,000 shekels on the center’s director, Jawad Siam. If he does not implement the decision within the specified period, the municipality will carry out the demolition and will impose a “demolition fee” on him for the municipality and the accompanying forces. The building threatened with demolition is a single room with a total area of ​​approximately 35 square meters and was built before the occupation of Jerusalem. In 2009, the room’s roof was restored to protect it from rainy weather conditions, by replacing the zinc sheets with wooden panels.

The occupation municipality continued to distribute demolition notices and summonses to follow up with the municipality in Jerusalem.

The families of the martyrs...endless pursuit

The attacks against the families of the Jerusalemite martyrs continued, which begin immediately after the identity of the martyr is announced; by storming and searching his home, assaulting his family members, and carrying out arrests and summonses for them, some of whom are released after hours or days, and some get indictments filed against them, in addition to the repeated storming of the home and imposing taxes and various fines on the families.

The most prominent measures against the families of the martyrs from Jerusalem who were accused of "carrying out operations or causing the death of soldiers or settlers", was preventing them from using their homes and forcing them to evacuate them, by decision of the "Political and Security Council”, until the Supreme Court decides on the decision to demolish the house "explosion/closure/pouring concrete", and the Information Center monitored those measures as follows:

• In January, the occupation authorities blew up the homes of the two martyr brothers, Murad and Ibrahim Nimer, in the village of Sur Baher.

• In April, the occupation authorities blew up the home of the martyr Khaled Al-Muhtaseb in Beit Hanina, and poured concrete into part of it.

• In May, the occupation authorities blew up the home of the martyr Fadi Jamjoum in the Shu’fat refugee camp.

Settlers' ambitions for Jerusalem properties

 The settlement associations continue to seize the properties of Jerusalemites, under various pretexts and excuses, as monitored by the Wadi Hilweh Information Center - Jerusalem in 2024 according to the following timeline:

• In February, the "Ateret Cohanim" association seized two and a half dunoms of land in the Batn al-Hawa neighborhood, owned by the Rajabi, Abu Diab, and Silwadi families, and the settlers closed the perimeter of some homes and the entrances to the courtyards in the area with reinforced sheet metal and iron wire.

• In June, settlers seized the Khalidi family's property in the Old City of Jerusalem, consisting of 3 floors with a total area of ​​200 square meters, claiming to have purchased it, and after several days the family was able to reclaim their property after proving the invalidity of the sale.

• July, the Ateret Cohanim Association seized the home of Jawad Abu Nab in the Batn al-Hawa neighborhood in Silwan, under the pretext that Jews owned the land on which the building was built since 1881.

• In August, the Ateret Cohanim Association seized the property of the Shehada family in the Batn al-Hawa neighborhood in Silwan. The family’s property, which they have lived in since the 1960s, consists of 3 floors (5 residential apartments), under the pretext that “Jews own the land on which the houses were built since 1881.”

• In September, the Elad Settlement Association seized a residential apartment and land belonging to the Abu al-Hawa family in the town of Al-Tur, claiming that they had purchased it. After about two months, the family was able to reclaim the property after proving that the sale was invalid.

• In October, settlers simultaneously seized two plots of land in the Al-Farouk and Wadi Hilweh neighborhoods in Silwan, after they were leaked by the owner.

• In November, settlers seized the “Al-Musrara Café” property in the Al-Musrara opposite Damascus Gate in Jerusalem, under the pretext of "being owned by the Custodian of Absentee Property".

• In December, the Ghaith family building in the Batn al-Hawa neighborhood in the town of Silwan, consisting of two floors, was seized under the pretext that the land on which the property was built had been owned by Jews since 1881.

• In December 2024, a plot of land in the town of Silwan was seized, after it was leaked from the owner.

Settler attacks: bullets, beatings and vandalism of property

Settlers carried out dozens of attacks on Jerusalemites and their property during 2024, by firing bullets, throwing stones, insults and vandalizing property. The Wadi Hilweh Information Center in Jerusalem monitored the most prominent of them in chronological order:

• In February, settlers attacked the head of the Benedictine monks in the Holy Land, by spitting at him while he was walking in the "Mount Zion" area in the Old City of Jerusalem, and insulting Jesus Christ, peace be upon him.

• In March, settlers destroyed the headstones of 5 graves in the "Bab al-Rahma Cemetery" located at the eastern wall of Al-Aqsa from the outside, and destroyed the materials used in its restoration, in addition to dancing and stepping on the graves, and vandalized vehicles in the Al-Sowaneh neighborhood.

• In June, Jerusalemite merchant Sinan Barakat was shot by settlers while he was in front of his shop in the Old City’s Bazaar market. In the same month, during the annual “Flags” march, commemorating the occupation of the eastern part of Jerusalem, settlers chanted racist slogans, including insults to the Prophet Muhammad, and slogans calling for the burning of Palestinian villages and camps. They also used obscene language and gestures during the march, and assaulted press crews.

• In September, armed settlers stormed the Al-Sowaneh neighborhood in Jerusalem, brandishing weapons at those present and the residents. They roamed the streets of Jerusalem and around the Old City, Silwan, and Al-Tur, chanting phrases such as “We eliminated Nasrallah... Nasrallah is dead,” and carried a coffin, referring to the killing of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah. In the same month, they severely beat a young Jerusalemite in the Bnei Brak area, north of Tel Aviv.

• In October, settlers randomly fired shots "in the air" in the Ras al-Amoud neighborhood in the town of Silwan, assaulted a young man with the butts of weapons they had in their possession, and beat an elderly man. At the end of the month, settlers pursued two young Palestinians in the "Armon Hanatziv" settlement, built on Jabal al-Mukabber lands, brandished a weapon at one of them, chased them in their vehicle, and directed insults at them.

• In November, a settler stormed the Hamza Mosque in the center of the village of Beit Safafa to pray there.

• During 2024, incidents of throwing stones at Palestinian vehicles in the streets and towns of the city of Jerusalem, and vandalizing vehicles and motorcycles, were repeated.

• During 2024, settlers incited against Sheikh Ekrima Sabri - head of the Supreme Islamic Council and imam and preacher of Al-Aqsa Mosque - several times to deport him, withdraw his identity card, and kill him. They demanded that the Minister of Internal Security demolish his house in Al-Sowaneh on the pretext that it was an "illegal building."

• Several attacks were recorded on Jerusalemite drivers who work on Israeli buses during their work, including beatings and insults.

• Several attacks were also recorded on merchants in the Old City of Jerusalem, including vandalism of shops, destruction of their doors, and insults and beatings, especially on the days of “Unification of Jerusalem” and “Destruction of the Temple.”

Confiscations and plans to seize lands

Land theft and bulldozing of lands, the demolition of walls and the uprooting of trees continue, as the Wadi Hilweh Information Center monitored the Israeli violations during the year 2024 according to the following sequence:

• In January, the occupation authorities carried out the bulldozing and uprooting of olive, cypress, palm, almond and medicinal herb trees, in order to implement a settlement plan "to pave streets to connect settlements, and establish settlement units, a kindergarten and a synagogue", on lands belonging to the Alayan family, which were confiscated in 2010, and there is a court decision prohibiting the use and work on the land.

• In January, a wall belonging to the Shweiki family was demolished in the Al-Thori neighborhood in the town of Silwan, to pave a street in the area.

• In February, the occupation authorities confiscated the land of "Al-Khandaq/Friday Market" located along the northeastern side of the Jerusalem wall, and began excavation and bulldozing of the land, in preparation for the implementation of a "park", within the project "Gardens around the Old City Wall".

• In October, the occupation authorities carried out settlement works on 63 dunoms of land in the village of Umm Tuba, south of Jerusalem, without informing the landowners, based on what is known as the “Israeli Land Settlement Law”, and registered the town’s lands in the name of the “Jewish National Fund”, which threatens to evict approximately 30 homes in which 139 Jerusalemites live.

• In October, the occupation police announced its intention to build a “police headquarters” on Al-Wad Street inside the Old City of Jerusalem, consisting of 3 floors.

• In December, two apartments belonging to the Salah family were demolished in the village of Beit Safafa to pave a road.

• Fines worth hundreds of thousands of shekels were imposed on families in the town of Silwan, under the pretext of parking their vehicles on a land belonging to a Jewish cemetery in the Wadi al-Rababeh neighborhood, while the landowners and families continue to be prevented from using their lands, levelling or planting them.

Banning the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)

Ending the refugee issue has always been a strategic goal of the Israeli authorities, as they have been seeking by all means for years to restrict the work of UNRWA and restrict its activities. They have accused a number of the agency's employees in the Gaza Strip of being involved in the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, which prompted some countries to cut funding to it, which UNRWA denied and began investigating.

The Information Center has monitored the most prominent Israeli decisions taken against UNRWA during the year 2024 as follows:

• At the beginning of 2024, during the war on the Gaza Strip, settlers organized demonstrations in front of its headquarters in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem, and demanded its immediate closure and the expulsion of employees from it "on the pretext that it is a terrorist organization." The headquarters was also attacked by setting fire to it twice, and with stones, in addition to threatening employees with weapons and deliberately vandalizing its property, and obstructing employees from reaching their workplaces by placing vehicles and black bags indicating "corpses" in front of the agency's door.

• In May, the Israeli authorities demanded the evacuation of its headquarters in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood on the pretext of “using the land without the approval of the Israel Lands Authority.” The Israeli authorities also decided to force the agency to pay 27 million shekels “in back rent for the years in which it used the property and consider it a debt owed by the agency.

• In October, the Knesset General Assembly approved a law that prohibits the activities of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) inside Israel, in addition to a law prohibiting contact with it.

At the beginning of October, the so-called “Israel Lands Authority” decided to confiscate the land of the headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in Jerusalem and establish a settlement project that includes 1,440 housing units.

UNRWA School Students...Where to?

In the context of the war on UNRWA and its institutions, the Israeli Education Department affiliated with the occupation municipality announced its plan to attract UNRWA school students to its schools, as the law to stop the agency will come into effect on 30/1/2025.

About 800 male and female students study in UNRWA schools, in addition to about 350 at Qalandia Training College "Vocational Education", which is located within the borders of the Jerusalem Municipality.

UNRWA has 6 schools in Jerusalem; in Shu’fat refugee camp, Silwan, Sur Baher, and Wadi al-Joz neighborhood, for boys and girls.

Suppressing protests and preventing events in Jerusalem

The occupation authorities continued to suppress solidarity and cultural events in the city of Jerusalem, most notably according to the monitoring of the Information Center:

• In May, the occupation forces suppressed a protest in front of the Orient House in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, to commemorate the passing of Faisal al-Husseini, and assaulted the participants by pushing them, and confiscated pictures of al-Husseini.

• In July, the honoring of pilgrims in the Al-Aqsa Mosque was prevented, by imposing a siege on Al-Aqsa and the Old City.

• In August, the occupation intelligence prevented the screening 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 screening.

• In August, the occupation intelligence prevented the holding of a "honoring ceremony for high school students" in the Safsaf Hall in the Wadi al-Hummos neighborhood in Jerusalem, which was called for by the "Wafaa for Women and Children" Association.

• Preventing the holding of Friday prayers in the sit-in tent in the town of Silwan.

• Suppression of Friday prayers in the neighborhoods of Jerusalem and at the gates and roads of Al-Aqsa, the most severe of which was in the first three months of last year.

Laws come into effect and others are being discussed

The Israeli authorities continue to issue decisions and enact laws that restrict the work of media institutions, or against the families of “operation perpetrators” as they describe them, in continuation of the series of Israeli violations. The Information Center monitored them as follows:

• In May, the occupation government approved a draft law to “shut down Al Jazeera Channel,” based on the law “preventing a foreign broadcasting organization from harming state security,” and accordingly, Al Jazeera’s offices in Jerusalem and the West Bank were closed, and access to the channel’s website was restricted.

• In August, the Israeli government renewed the closure of the Lebanese Al-Mayadeen Channel and “banned its operations in the country” on charges of “harming state security,” in a decision that is the second in this regard since the start of the war on Gaza.

• In November, a Knesset committee approved a bill that stipulates “the expulsion of family members of those who carry out armed operations against Israeli targets” if they had prior knowledge of the operation or glorified and supported the operation after it was carried out. According to the law, the expulsion order for an “Israeli citizen” is no less than 7 years and no more than 15 years, and in the case of a “permanent or temporary resident” for a period of no less than 10 years and no more than 20 years.

• In November, the Knesset approved a law that allows the imposition of a prison sentence on Palestinian children under the age of 14. According to the law, the court will be able to detain the minor in a prison instead of a “hostel/internal residence” for a period of no more than 10 days, if it is convinced that he poses a danger or that his actions could harm others. If such circumstances are repeated, the court will be able to keep the minor in prison for a period of time that it determines.

• In December, the Israeli Knesset approved in its preliminary reading a bill authorizing the Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Education to refuse to employ teachers from Jerusalem and the Palestinian interior who hold an academic degree from an institution subject to the supervision and oversight of the Palestinian Authority.

Targeting mosques and imams

Places of worship and mosques were not spared from demolition, demolition orders, and orders to confiscate loudspeakers used to broadcast the call to prayer, nor were imams spared from prosecution and arrest. The Information Center monitored those assaults as follows:

• In December, Minister of Internal Security Itamar Ben Gvir instructed the police command to begin confiscating loudspeakers used to broadcast the call to prayer from mosques, especially in cities inside the territories occupied in 1948, on the pretext that "the call to prayer disturbs the settlers," and Ben Gvir demanded that fines be imposed in cases where "the loudspeakers cannot be confiscated."

• Demolition of the Al-Shayah Mosque in the village of Sur Baher, which has been standing for 20 years, and which was built for prayer and teaching children the Qur’an and religious matters.

• Placing a demolition decision on Al-Isra Mosque in the town of Silwan, which has been in place since 2002.

Preachers and imams were not spared from prosecution, arrest, summons, and actual imprisonment. During 2024, the courts issued their sentences of actual imprisonment against 3 of them: Sheikh Jamal Mustafa, actual imprisonment for 3 years, Sheikh Mahmoud Abu Khdair was sentenced for a year and one month, and Sheikh Naim Odeh for a year and a half, with Sheikh Issam Amireh continuing to be detained since October 2023.