(210) cases of arrest, (24) demolition and bulldozing operations, and about (3,907) settlers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque during February 2022

Al-Quds Governorate monitored the violations of the Israeli occupation in the governorate during the month of February 2022, which witnessed an increase in the frequency of violations at all levels.

The violations focused on assaults, arrests, physical and home confinement decisions, deportations, demolitions, bulldozing and eviction decisions, in addition to the daily incursions into the Al-Aqsa Mosque, violations against prisoners, the events of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, and the events in the Holy City on the anniversary of Isra and Mi’raj, as well as shedding light on settlement projects within Its plans to Judaize the Holy City.

The most prominent of these was the return of tension in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, after the extremist occupation MK Itamar Ben Gvir opened his provocative office on Salem family land on the western side of the neighborhood and the eviction and confiscation decisions issued against some residents of the neighborhood. Which sparked events in the neighborhood.

Regarding the settlers’ attacks, the Jerusalem governorate recorded 48 attacks; Of these, there were about (15) physical attacks by shooting, running over and using sharp tools, in addition to dozens of attacks on property, most of which were concentrated in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.

With regard to the injuries resulting from the use of excessive force by the occupation forces against Jerusalemites in various parts of the occupied capital, about 800 injuries were recorded with live and rubber bullets, severe beatings, pepper gas and suffocation, dozens of whom were subsequently transferred to hospitals for treatment. During clashes that erupted at several points of contact throughout the governorate’s towns and camps, the most prominent were in the Al-Matar neighborhood in the town of Kafr Aqab, the Qalandia and Shuafat camps, the town of Abu Dis, the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood and the surrounding area in Bab Al-Amoud.

And regarding the violations that the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque is exposed to, and in a clear and explicit violation of the sanctity of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, the incursions of settlers escalated during the month of February, and it was monitored (3907) settlers storming the courtyards of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque during the morning and evening periods under strict protection from the occupation police, during which they performed prayers and rituals An open Talmudic settlement, thus increasing the number of intrusion into the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque twice from February of the year 2021, in which 1650 settlers were monitored.

Regarding the arrest campaign launched by the occupation forces on a daily basis, the governorate monitored (210) arrests of Jerusalemite citizens, including 21 women. Thus, the month of February 2022 records a significant increase in the number of detainees compared to February of the year 2021 in which 127 arrest case were recorded.

The racist occupation courts issued 19 actual prison sentences against Jerusalemite prisoners ranging from two to 45 months, including (3) administrative detention sentences, in addition to imposing fines and high financial guarantees that increase the suffering of their families.

Among the violations that were monitored by the Jerusalem governorate, the issuance of (7) house arrest decisions, and (8) decisions of deportation of Jerusalemite citizens during the month of February in the city of Jerusalem. In addition to (4) unfair travel bans against Jerusalemite citizens.

With regard to the file of demolitions during the month of February, the number of demolitions reached (21): (8) forcible demolitions, (13) demolitions by occupation mechanisms, and (3) bulldozing operations. Dozens of notices for the demolition of homes and commercial facilities were also handed over. Thus, the current month records an increase in demolitions compared to February 2021, in which (14) demolitions were recorded.

The occupation authorities are seeking to impose a new reality on the occupied city of Jerusalem through the implementation of dangerous settlement projects. (5) projects were the most prominent in the month of February as follows:

-The "Organization and Construction Committee" of the occupation municipality in Jerusalem approved a plan to build 1,500 settlement units on land located between the "French Hill" settlement and the Hebrew University in east Jerusalem.

-The so-called "Ministry of Construction and Housing" of the occupation, announced the approval of plans to build (5,250 settlement units), in buildings from 5 to 12 floors, near the zoo in Jerusalem.

-The Finance Committee of the Occupation Municipality in Jerusalem has approved a series of projects and plans aimed at linking the settlements of Jerusalem. About one billion shekels have been allocated for these projects aimed at consolidating the occupation’s sovereignty over the city. According to the plan of the occupation municipality, infrastructure projects, a road network, and the modernization and expansion of the light rail line will be established in order to connect the settlements in East Jerusalem with the western neighborhoods of the city.

-In recent months, the so-called right-wing settler organization "Elad" organized, under the auspices of the occupation municipality in Jerusalem, educational activities for young people in an agricultural area in East Jerusalem, extending in part on private Palestinian land that Elad aspires to control. These activities were defined as a joint project between the association and the so-called "Nature and Parks Authority", and it became possible after Mayor Moshe Leon signed landscaping orders in 2019 to develop a private Palestinian area.

-The occupation municipality published a model of a new industrial city and a street on the Dead Sea in "Wadi Al-Dimas" adjacent to the town of Al-Sawahrah Al-Sharqiah in the Al-Sala’a neighborhood in Jabal Al-Mukabber.