January 2025 in the city of Jerusalem
The Wadi Hilweh Information Center - Jerusalem issued its report for the month of January 2025, during which it monitored violations in the city of Jerusalem.
Violations continued in Al-Aqsa Mosque and the city of Jerusalem during the past month, in addition to the continuation of arrest campaigns and demolitions in the city.
In the most prominent developments of the war on Gaza, the ceasefire decision between Israel and Hamas came into effect on January 20, after 470 days of war, and during that period, 3 batches of prisoner exchanges took place.
A Jerusalemite Martyr
On 16/1/2025, the Jerusalemite boy Adam Majdi Sub Laban, 16 years old, from the Kufor Aqab neighborhood, was martyred by a sniper's bullet at the Qalandia military checkpoint, north of the city of Jerusalem, after being targeted with a bullet that hit the "main artery" in the thigh. His martyrdom was announced upon his arrival to the hospital.
Al-Aqsa Mosque
Settlers continued their incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque, through the Dung Gate, whose keys they have controlled by the occupation authorities since the occupation of Jerusalem, during two periods of incursions in the morning and afternoon. More than 5,300 settlers carried out their incursions into Al-Aqsa, and the settlers performed their collective and public prayers in Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The Wadi Hilweh Information Center - Jerusalem said that the first and second days of last month coincided with the last days of the Jewish Hanukkah week, and the settlers lit 8 candles on the "Hanukkah" holiday in the eastern region, and placed them on one of the stones in the eastern region, which is the first time that the candles are lit completely in reference to the days of the holiday. It is noteworthy that in 2021 and 2023, the settlers lit candles and lighters inside Al-Aqsa during the days of the holiday.
On 30/1/2025, which coincided with the beginning of the Hebrew month, 561 settlers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The restrictions imposed on the entry of worshipers to Al-Aqsa continued on Fridays, represented by setting up barriers on the roads leading to Al-Aqsa and forces being stationed at its gates, subjecting those coming to it to search and checking their IDs, searching young men and preventing them from entering Al-Aqsa, pursuing them in the alleys of the Old City and removing them from it, and keeping them away from the gates and thresholds of Al-Aqsa, to prevent them from praying at its gates.
On January 17, settlers hung the "Temple Flag" on the main door of the offices of the Islamic Endowments Department at Al-Qattanin Gate from the outside.
The desecration of the gates of Al-Aqsa from the outside also continued, with settlers praying daily and around the clock at the gates.
UNRWA ... The ban and work ban decision entered into force
At the end of last January, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said that it was forced to transfer its employees from Jerusalem after Israel decided to close its offices in the city.
Last October, the Knesset General Assembly passed the law banning the activities of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) inside Israel, in addition to a law banning contact with it. At the end of January, the decision entered into force, and a few days ago, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations asked the Secretary-General of the United Nations to have UNRWA stop its operations in the city of Jerusalem and evacuate its headquarters.
On January 26, the Israeli Supreme Court rejected a "petition request" submitted by human rights groups to obtain a temporary order to postpone the implementation of decisions that limit UNRWA's operations in the occupied territories.
The headquarters of UNRWA in Jerusalem is located in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, which includes offices and warehouses for food and medical supplies, in addition to its management of 6 schools; 3 in Shu’fat refugee camp, 1 in Silwan, 1 in Sur Baher, and 1 in Wadi al-Joz neighborhood, for males and females, in addition to the vocational training college in Qalandia refugee camp, and it also runs 3 health centers in the Old City of Jerusalem, Shu’fat refugee camp, and Qalandia refugee camp.
Approximately 800 male and female students study in UNRWA schools, in addition to approximately 350 in Qalandia Training College "Vocational Education", which is located within the borders of the Jerusalem Municipality.
Prisoner Exchange Deal... and Jerusalem Prisoners
On January 20, the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas went into effect, after 470 days of war. Three batches of prisoner exchanges were carried out from the first phase, during which 48 male and female prisoners from Jerusalem "holding Israeli/blue ID cards" were released. The batches were as follows:
• The first batch on January 19, 2025, released 15 Jerusalemites, including 8 women and 7 boys.
• The second batch on January 25, 2025, released 15 Jerusalemites, including 14 prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment, 12 of whom were deported outside the Palestinian territories, and one prisoner was deported to the Gaza Strip.
• The third batch on January 30, 2025, released 18 Jerusalemites, including 15 prisoners with high sentences, one of whom was deported to the Gaza Strip and is among the prisoners who will be deported outside the Palestinian territories.
In order to prevent any manifestation of the deal and the release of prisoners and the moment the prisoner meets his family and arrives home, the days of the exchange deals witnessed punitive measures against the families of the prisoners, most notably summons, storming homes and arresting family members.
The center said that the release procedures in the first batch of the deal included the intelligence summoning the guardian of the detainee to the Al-Maskoubiya Police “Room 4 Center”, and informing him of the conditions of release "no gathering during the reception of the prisoner, no raising of flags and banners, no launching of fireworks", then releasing the guardian of the detainee and asking him to wait at home until he was contacted again to come and receive the prisoner from the detention center.
In the evening hours, the intelligence summoned the prisoner's family again, and after hours of waiting and detention, the Palestinian prisoners were released at the same time at 1:00 after midnight, and the intelligence accompanied by police officers took each prisoner to his home door.
The procedures for the third batch began with summoning the detainee’s guardian in the early morning hours, informing them of the release conditions, and then transferring them to the intelligence vehicles in al-Maskoubiya. At approximately 2:00 in the afternoon, the families were surprised by being asked to leave the vehicles and were detained in the courtyard of the “Rooms 4” center. They were prevented from making calls, using the phone, going to the bathroom, or even drinking water. The intelligence informed them that their sons would not be released by a decision from the Israeli political level. After the mediation efforts succeeded, at 5:15 in the evening, the release of the Jerusalemite prisoners began, and each prisoner was taken with his guardian to the door of his home. As for the prisoners of the Shu’fat refugee camp, they were released at the military checkpoint, and the prisoners of Kufor Aqab were released from Ofer prison.
The occupation intelligence, accompanied by the police, carried out repeated raids on the homes of prisoners who were to be released in the exchange batches, especially on the day of the deal, and deliberately threatened family members and searched and vandalized homes.
Spoiling the moment of family reunification
The procedures for releasing prisoners did not stop at the summons and raiding and searching their homes before the release, but continued after the release, and witnessed abuse and spoiling the joy of the families at the release of their sons.
The occupation forces stormed the home of the released prisoner Ashraf Zghayyar - released in the second batch - about two hours after his arrival to his home in the Kufor Aqab neighborhood north of Jerusalem, and assaulted those present in the house and forcibly evacuated them, then arrested Amir Zghayyar - the brother of the released prisoner - and after several days they returned and stormed the family home and conducted a field investigation with the released prisoner Ashraf, then arrested his brothers Abdullah and Obada, and arrested 7 members of his family after storming their homes in the towns of Jerusalem, in addition to arresting a number of his acquaintances, under the pretext of "participating in welcoming the prisoner and raising flags".
In the third batch and while waiting for the release of the prisoners, the forces stormed the home of the prisoner Mahmoud Abdul Latif and arrested his wife and sister, and at the time of the release they arrested his niece. The occupation forces also stormed the home of the released prisoner Subhi Abu Khalifa in the town of Anata several hours after the release of the prisoners, and assaulted all those present with severe beatings, screaming and threats, and arrested his brother Mohammad.
Freedom lacking access to Al-Aqsa
The occupation intelligence informed most of the Jerusalemite prisoners of an oral decision to "prevent their entry to Al-Aqsa Mosque for a week", and handed them summonses for investigation.
The Information Center said that the occupation authorities handed the released prisoners, after they went to the investigation, decisions to ban them from entering Al-Aqsa for a period of 6 months.
Arrests
The occupation authorities continued their arrest campaigns in the city of Jerusalem, where they carried out hundreds of arrests, including children, youth, women and the elderly, in addition to arresting hundreds of young men from the West Bank on the pretext of "illegal residence in the city of Jerusalem".
The occupation authorities sentenced Sheikh Issam Amira to 34 months in prison, on charges of "incitement", as he was arrested on 12-10-2023.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Interior decided to withdraw the Jerusalemite identity card (blue identity card) from prisoner Mohammad Asaad Obeidat.
Deportations
The occupation authorities continued to issue deportation decisions, and the Information Center monitored 39 deportation decisions that included "deportation from Jerusalem, the Old City, Al-Aqsa, streets in Jerusalem, places of residence, and preventing entry to the West Bank."
The occupation authorities also deported dozens of Palestinians holding "West Bank identity cards" from Jerusalem, after arresting them under the pretext of "illegal presence" in the city.
Demolition and displacement
The occupation municipality continued to carry out demolition operations or force Jerusalemites to self-demolish their homes, under the pretext of building without a permit, and the Wadi Hilweh Information Center - Jerusalem monitored 24 demolition operations in Jerusalem, including 18 demolition operations carried out by their owners, to avoid paying a fine "demolition fee" to the municipality and its accompanying crews.
The demolition operations included "a residential building, houses, barracks, fences, bulldozing floors, and a chicken coop."
Among the demolitions, the municipality's bulldozers demolished the Al-Taqwa prayer hall in the village of Sur Baher.
A decision to demolish the home of the martyr Mohammad Shihab from Jerusalem
The occupation authorities issued a decision to demolish the home of the martyr Mohammad Shihab in the Dahiyat Al-Barid neighborhood north of Jerusalem. The martyr Mohammad Shihab was killed and his body was detained after he carried out a run-over operation in mid-July 2024, at the Ramla junction inside the Palestinian 1948 lands, which led to the death of an officer and the injury of 3 others.
Mass eviction decisions
The Israeli courts issued decisions to evict 18 families from their homes in the town of Silwan in favor of settlers, under the pretext that the land on which the properties were built was owned by Jews from Yemen since 1881.
The center said that the homes belong to the Al-Rajabi and Basbous families.
The Ateret Cohanim Association claims that 5200 square meters of land in the Batn al-Hawa neighborhood belong to Jews from Yemen. Since 2015, the association has been delivering notices and judicial notices to families in the Batn al-Hawa neighborhood to evict them from their homes. Then, the Israeli courts issued eviction decisions for the families and implemented them for the Shehada families and a property for the Abu Nab and Ghaith families.
Settler attacks
Settlers closed one of the roads leading to Ein Silwan, claiming that there were cracks in the place, and prevented a merchant from reaching his shop.
During the month of January, settlers carried out attacks on Jerusalemites and their vehicles on Begin Street, the entrance to the city of Jerusalem, in rejection of the exchange deal and the ceasefire in Gaza. The settlers attacked the vehicles and closed the road in front of them.
Preventing a mourning house
The Information Center confirmed that the occupation intelligence prevented the establishment of a mourning house for the late Major General Daoud Ahmed Maragha "Abu Ahmed Fouad", the former deputy secretary-general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, who was scheduled to receive condolences at the headquarters of the Silwan Club.
Maragha was born in the town of Silwan in 1942 and belonged to the Arab Nationalist Movement and was one of the first founders of the Popular Front.
Sirens in the city of Jerusalem
On the morning hours of 18/1/2025, sirens sounded in the city of Jerusalem and the sounds of explosions were heard in the city, after a missile launched from Yemen was intercepted.
