The Public Relations Unit in Jerusalem Governorate issued its report on the crimes and violations of the occupation during the first half of this year 2023, in the occupied capital.
The frenzied attacks of the occupation authorities and settlers continue, in light of the right-wing occupation government, which is implementing a fascist extremist program aimed at annexation, displacement, Judaization, land confiscation, settlement deepening, racial segregation, military aggression, and violation of sanctities, especially changing the status quo in Al-Aqsa Mosque, which is reflected in all aspects of the life of the Palestinian citizen. In the reality of the escalation of crimes against him, aimed at destabilizing his will and undermining his existence, especially in the occupied capital.
The martyrs and the file of the bodies held by the occupation
During the first half of the year 2023, (9) martyrs died in the Jerusalem governorate, including two children, as the occupation forces executed each of them: the young man (Samir Aslan, 41 years old), father of 8 children, and the young man (Muhammad Ali, 17 years old) and the young man (Youssef Muhaisen). (22 years old), the boy (Wadih Abu Ramoz, 16 years old), the young man (Khairy Alqam, 21 years old), the young man (Hussein Qaraqe’, 32 years old), a father of 3 children, the young man (Muhammad Al-Osaibi, 26 years old), and the young man (Hatem Abu Najma, 39 years old). and the young man (Ishaq al-Ajlouni, 18 years old).
The file of the martyrs whose bodies are withheld by the occupation:
During the first half of the year 2023, the occupation handed over the bodies of six martyrs, who are: (Martyr Hatem Abu Najma, Martyr Wadih Abu Ramoz, Martyr Muhammad Abu Jumaa, Martyr Ashraf Helsa, Martyr Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali, and Martyr Muhammad Abu Kafia), while continuing to detain the bodies of 3 martyrs during this period and they are (Ishaq Al-Ajlouni, Khairy Alqam, Hussein Qaraqe').
The occupation authorities are still holding the bodies of 23 Jerusalemite martyrs in the occupation refrigerators and the number cemeteries.
Targeting Jerusalemite national and religious figures
In light of the far-right government led by herds of settlers, the occupation authorities continue their attempts to impose sovereignty over Jerusalem and its sanctities with the aim of imposing a new reality, and continue their racist policy against the Jerusalemite national symbols, headed by the Governor of Jerusalem, Adnan Ghaith, who has been subject to an open house arrest decision in his house since the fourth of August 2022, without specifying a time period for the decision, and during the first half of the year, the occupation authorities intensified their raids on the house of the governor, Ghaith, located in the town of Silwan, south of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, and on the evening of May 30, the occupation authorities renewed the decision to prevent Ghaith from entering the West Bank. The decision was issued after the occupation intelligence summoned Governor Ghaith to investigate the detention center known as the "Al-Maskubiya" in occupied Jerusalem.
During the first half of the year 2023, the occupation also continued targeting religious symbols in Jerusalem, so the occupation summoned the preacher of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, Sheikh Ikrima Sabri, for investigation and released him under conditions, including the necessity for the sheikh to attend any investigation to which he is summoned, and to prevent him from communicating with three media channels, namely Al-Manar, Al-Aqsa and Al-Mayadeen.
In May, activists from the Zionist lobby assaulted the Jerusalemite lawyer, Salah al-Hamouri, who was deported to France, during two conferences on the Nakba and the prisoners in Toulouse and Paris.
In January, the occupation renewed a military decision banning entry to the cities of the West Bank for the secretary of the "Fatah" movement in Jerusalem, Shadi Mutwar, under the pretext of "participating in the events and activities of the Palestinian National Authority." family reunification" from his wife, and the cancellation of what is known as the National Insurance.
Among the Jerusalemite personalities who are exposed to the occupation practices is the head of the Jerusalemite Commission for Combating Judaization, Nasser Al-Hadmi, as the occupation renewed the decision to prevent him from traveling and the house arrest decision.
On the eighth of last February, the Israeli occupation authorities decided to deport Sheikh Najeh Bakirat, Deputy Director General of the Jerusalem Endowments, from Al-Aqsa Mosque for a period of 6 months.
The Israeli occupation authorities also handed, in January of the year 2023, the released prisoner, Nasser Abu Khdeir, from the town of Shuafat, north of occupied Jerusalem, a decision to renew restrictions on his work and activities within the occupied city of Jerusalem, in addition to preventing him from communicating with a number of Jerusalemites, for another six months.
The occupation also wages continuous incitement campaigns against prominent personalities in Jerusalem, including lawyer Medhat Diba, who specializes in combating land infiltration, as a case was filed against him with what is known as the Bar Association, seeking to criminalize him and threaten to withdraw his practice of his profession.
Settlers crimes
Settler attacks come within the context of intentional killing, such as the killing of an armed settler, the martyr Hatem Abu Najma, and the targeting of children with intentional shooting and run-over incidents, such as the targeting of the child Khader Ghorab (14 years old) and the child Karam Al-Natsheh, and a settler running over the child Muhammad Al-Jahalin (8 years old), in addition to incitement, incursions, and barbaric attacks On citizens, and during the first half of this year, the Jerusalem governorate monitored about (128) attacks by settlers, including (29) physical abuse attacks.
During the month of May, the march of hatred, the "flags", stormed the Damascus Gate area in occupied Jerusalem, and the first half of the year 2023 witnessed the continuation of attacks on Islamic and Christian holy places by violating their sanctity and attempting to destroy their property, and broadcasting inciting calls by settler groups, demanding the permissibility of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque. , and the demand for the opening of a synagogue inside Al-Aqsa and attempts to bring tools and animal sacrifices into the Al-Aqsa Mosque during the Jewish holidays, and offering financial rewards to those who enter and slaughter offerings in the Al-Aqsa Mosque during the Hebrew “Passover” holiday.
Settler attacks range from high to low compared to previous years. During the first half of 2021, settler attacks recorded (137) attacks, including about (88) physical abuse. In the first half of 2022, (261) attacks were recorded; Including (67) assaults by physical abuse.
Rrecorded injuries
During the first half, the Jerusalem Governorate monitored the injuries resulting from the occupation's use of excessive force against Jerusalemites in various parts of the occupied capital. (385) injuries were monitored as a result of live and rubber-coated metal bullets and severe beatings, in addition to hundreds of gas suffocation cases in many contact points in the occupied capital, which witnesses almost daily confrontations.
In comparison to the past two years, we note a discrepancy in the number of recorded injuries, as (2,500) injuries were recorded during the first half of the year 2021, and (1,772) injuries were recorded in the first half of 2022.
Occupation crimes in the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque
In a clear and blatant violation of the sanctity of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, settler incursions escalated during the first half of the year 2023, as (26,276 settlers) and (482,392) under the name of “tourism” stormed the courtyards of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque during the de facto situation imposed by the occupation in what is known as the morning and evening periods, with protection Aggravated by the occupation police, during which they performed Talmudic rituals, including epic prostration, and tried to enter offerings several times during the days of what is called the Jewish Passover. The highest was in May.
The occupation police stormed the chapels of the Dome of the Rock, al-Qibli, and al-Marwani several times during the first half. Whoever resists their barbarism and crimes will be arrested, followed by unjust decisions to banish them from Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Old City.
And by comparing the settler incursions during the first half of this year with the past two years, we notice a discrepancy in the number of intruders between high and low, as the first half of 2021 recorded (14,000) settlers who stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque, while (33,351) settlers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque during the first half. From the year 2022.
Targeting the Bab Al-Rahma chapel:
The occupation forces renewed their targeting of the Bab al-Rahma chapel during the month of April. They raided the chapel several times and tightened their measures in its vicinity. On April 22, they cut off the electricity wires and damaged the electrical installations and lighting inside. At the end of June, the occupation police submitted a request to the Occupation Court to extend the closure of the “Bab Al-Rahma” chapel in Al-Aqsa Mosque, claiming that it constituted a strategic point for the Almoravids. These restrictions on the chapel indicate that the occupation and settlers will target the chapel in the future, claiming that it is related to their alleged temple.
Judaizing meeting under Al-Aqsa Mosque:
On May 21, the occupation government held its weekly meeting in the tunnels under Al-Aqsa Mosque and Al-Buraq Wall to approve Judaization projects in occupied Jerusalem. The occupation government approved adding about $17 million to the budget for digging tunnels under the Al-Buraq Wall and the Old City of occupied Jerusalem.
The occupation government also allocated four million shekels to encourage the storming of the Al-Buraq Wall and Al-Aqsa Mosque and to support the revival of "Jerusalem, the capital of the occupying state," as they put it.
Excavation file under the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and the prevention of restoration:
The first half of this year witnessed the fall of a stone on February 6 from the outer surface of the Dome of the Rock in the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, and this stone is part of a ceramic tile measuring approximately (20 * 20) cm, which was added to the Dome of the Rock Mosque after the last Egyptian restoration. It fell from the western façade below the gutter to the side of the polygon to the left of the main western entrance to the Dome of the Rock chapel. This coincides with the occupation’s prevention of restoration work. And with the rains in the winter season, the Al-Aqsa chapels witness a leakage of rain water. On the 8th of February, rain water leaked into the Marwani chapel through holes in its ceiling, due to the occupation preventing the Islamic Endowments Department from restoring the Al-Aqsa chapels. It is noteworthy that the occupation over the years has prevented restoration operations in Al-Aqsa Mosque, in return, it continues excavation work in Al-Buraq Square, and the construction of Judaization tunnels under the mosque.
Crimes against Christians in Jerusalem
Settler attacks on Christian sanctities in occupied Jerusalem continue, without any serious interference from the occupation authorities and its security arms to prevent these attacks, which encourages them to continue their attacks without deterrence or punishment. During the first half of this year, a number of attacks on Christian places and sanctities were monitored; On the first of January, the historic Protestant cemetery on Mount Zion in occupied Jerusalem was exposed to the brutal desecration of more than thirty graves by settlers, as several crosses were destroyed, while Christian tombstones were extracted and smashed. On January 4, extremist settlers attacked a cemetery belonging to the Evangelical Episcopal Church in Jerusalem, desecrating graves, and breaking crosses. On January 12, the Armenian Patriarchate in the occupied city of Jerusalem was subjected to a racist attack by extremist settlers on its walls, by writing phrases calling for revenge and death for Arabs, Armenians, and Christians.
On February 2, a settler stormed the "imprisonment of Christ" church in the Old City of occupied Jerusalem and tried to set it on fire and destroy a statue of Christ inside the church using a hammer. A foreign tourist who is mentally ill.
On March 19, two settlers attempted to attack the "Tomb of the Virgin Mary" church, which is close to the Gethsemane Church in occupied Jerusalem. They tried to sabotage its contents and attack churchgoers.
On April 15, the occupation authorities imposed strict restrictions on the access of Christian citizens to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in occupied Jerusalem to celebrate the "Light Saturday", by closing a number of the old town's doors leading to the church, and setting up military checkpoints in an attempt to prevent the arrival of Christian worshipers. The occupation also required special permits to pray in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, in order to control the numbers allowed to enter, and during the celebration, the occupation forces prevented a large number of those celebrating the “Sabbath of Light” from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City of occupied Jerusalem, and they also barbarously and brutally assaulted them.
Arrest cases
During the first half of 2023, the occupation forces launched massive arrest campaigns among Jerusalemites, under false pretexts, and (1800) cases of arrest were monitored in all regions of Jerusalem governorate, including more than (208) children and about (56) women. The highest number was monitored in April, with 774 arrest cases.
During the first half of the year 2021, (1868) cases of arrest were recorded, including (85) cases of women, and (394) minors, while in the first half of the year 2022, (2176) cases of arrest of Jerusalemites, including (93) women. , (12 children below the age of responsibility) and (378 minors).
The decisions of the occupation courts against the detainees
The occupation courts impose unfair decisions against the detainees, which varied between the issuance of actual prison sentences and the imposition of house arrest, in addition to deportation decisions and heavy financial fines, including those against whom the occupation court issued travel bans, in addition to extending the detention of a large number of detainees for long months and perhaps years without direct charges against them.
1. Sentences of actual imprisonment
The report monitors the issuance of (192) actual prison sentences by the occupation’s racist courts against Jerusalemite prisoners, including (76) administrative detention sentences, “that is, without clearly defining a charge against them,” the highest in March and May, in addition to imposing very heavy financial fines that increase the suffering of their families.
During the first half of the year 2021, (64) actual prison sentences were recorded, including 25 administrative detention decisions, and during the first half of 2022, (133) actual prison sentences were recorded, including 36 administrative detention decisions.
2. Decisions of house arrest
House confinement has become a sword over the necks of Jerusalemites, which is represented by the imposition of rulings by the occupation court that require a person to stay in the house for specific periods of time in a forced manner, which made the homes of Jerusalemites prisons for them, as it restricts the convict and his sponsors, and creates a state of permanent tension and pressure from a psychological and social point of view. And (194) house arrest decisions issued by the occupation authorities were monitored during the first half of this year, the highest of which was in April, with 57 decisions. The duration of the issued decisions ranges from two days to “open-ended” house arrest, that is, without specifying a time for the expiry of the decision.
During the first half of the year 2021, (101) house arrest decisions were recorded, and during the first half of 2022, (109) house arrest decisions were recorded.
3. Deportation decisions
The occupation authorities take the deportation decisions they issue as a means to suppress the Palestinian presence in the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Old City, Damascus Gate, and other targeted neighborhoods. About 631 deportation decisions were issued, including 519 deportation decisions from Al-Aqsa Mosque during the first half, and the highest number was in April, with 461. A decision to banish from Al-Aqsa Mosque, in an attempt by the occupation authorities to impose their reality on Al-Aqsa Mosque during the month of Ramadan and empty it of the stationed.
During the first half of the year 2021, (365) deportation decisions were recorded, of which 256 were from Al-Aqsa Mosque, and during the first half of 2022, (711) deportation decisions were recorded, about half of which are from Al-Aqsa Mosque.
4. Travel ban decisions
The occupation invokes security reasons to prevent Palestinians from traveling, especially in occupied Jerusalem. About (19) travel bans were issued, issued by the occupation authorities in the first half of this year only, and the decision period ranges from one month to 6 months.
Demolition and bulldozing crimes and confiscation of property
During the first half of the year 2023, the number of demolitions in Jerusalem governorate reached (181) demolitions and (19) bulldozing operations, of which (40 forced self-demolitions) and (141 demolitions carried out by the occupation mechanisms).
Since the beginning of this year, the occupation mechanisms and crews have carried out 141 demolitions, including houses in the neighborhoods and towns of Silwan, Jabal Mukaber, Sur Baher, Beit Hanina, Shuafat Camp, and Wadi al-Joz neighborhood, in addition to commercial establishments, many fences and retaining walls, in addition to residential and agricultural barracks that housed its residents. Winter cold and summer heat, and other water tanks, and horse stables.
During the first half of the year 2021, (96) demolitions were recorded, and (117) and 16 bulldozing operations were recorded during the first half of 2022.
During the first half, the occupation forces confiscated many olive and lemon trees, and cut water pipes in the eastern region of the lands of the people of the village of Al-Isawiya, in addition to confiscating agricultural rooms, residential purposes, large quantities of barbed wire, water tanks and water barrels in the Al-Sawahra wilderness / Jerusalem desert.
Demolition, forced eviction and land confiscation decisions
During the first half of the year 2023, the occupation authorities delivered more than 135 demolition notices for a number of commercial establishments and homes, in the neighborhoods of the towns of Al-Tur, Silwan, Al-Isawiya, Jabal Al-Mukaber, Sheikh Jarrah, Rafat, Al-Zaim, Anata, Qalandia, and a number of Bedouin communities, including; Abu Al-Nawwar, Al-Saidi, and Wadi Saab.
Eviction and forced displacement
Al-Khan Al-Ahmar Bedouin community topped the list of areas in which the so-called Minister of Security of the extremist occupation, "Ben Gvir" and Knesset members of the Likud party demanded the demolition of its facilities and the final displacement of its residents. On March 11, the Prime Minister of the occupation government, "Netanyahu" decided to postpone the (forced eviction) displacement Khan al-Ahmar village, east of occupied Jerusalem, until the end of Ramadan. During April, the occupation government demanded, on the 23rd of April, to cancel the petition submitted to the Supreme Court of the occupation to evacuate Al-Khan Al-Ahmar, east of occupied Jerusalem.
Land grab
The occupation authorities have seized large areas of land belonging to Jerusalemites in favor of settlement projects that mainly aim to empty the Jerusalem governorate of its original inhabitants and replace them with settlers in a policy aimed at changing the demographic character of the region.
Crimes against prisoners
The so-called racist, extremist "Minister of National Security", Itamar Ben Gvir, issued a series of retaliatory measures aimed at depriving prisoners of the most basic rights, including enacting a law to execute Palestinian prisoners convicted of killing Jews, and approving a law to revoke citizenship or residency and deport and deport those who are prisoners. Palestinians or those released from prisons from the interior and Jerusalem in the event that it is proven that they received any money from the Palestinian Authority, arbitrary transfers of prisoners from one prison to another, and the establishment of a section dedicated to isolating Palestinian female prisoners.
Accordingly, during the past period, the occupation launched a campaign against the prisoners and their families, imposing financial penalties in addition to seizing the private property of "243" Palestinian prisoners, including about "168" prisoners from occupied Jerusalem, under the pretext of receiving money from the Palestinian Authority.
Violations against Jerusalem institutions and monuments
In continuous attempts to undermine the efforts of Jerusalemites inside the occupied capital, the occupation continues the policy of closing the institutions operating in them and suppressing events that prove the presence and steadfastness of Jerusalemites in the occupied city.
At the forefront of these attacks is the issuance of the so-called extremist Minister of National Security, "Ben Gvir", on March 20, a decision to close the office of the company that provides media and production services to the official Palestinian media and summon the staff working in it. With the aim of preventing media coverage in Jerusalem to convey the suffering and steadfastness of Jerusalemites in the face of the Israeli war machine.
During the first half of the year 2023, the occupation forces stormed many Jerusalem institutions, including hospitals, schools, and educational institutions. During the months of January and March, the Makassed Charitable Association Hospital repeatedly raided sections inside the hospital, as well as direct targeting of the headquarters of the Islamic Heritage Revival and Research Foundation - Beit. The sanctuary "Methaq" in the town of Abu Dis with gas bombs, which smashed the windows, in addition to storming and searching the Burj Al-Luqluq center in Old Jerusalem. In addition to what was mentioned, the occupation fired stun grenades and tear gas at the end of March towards the citizens in the vicinity and inside the Martyr Faisal Al-Husseini Stadium. In the town of Al-Ram, during the Martyr Yasser Arafat Football Cup final match between Balata Center and Jabal Al-Mukaber, under the pretext that it was pelted with stones, which led to dozens of suffocation injuries.
In the framework of targeting educational institutions and students in Jerusalem, the so-called occupation municipality is still delaying the restoration of a crumbling wall in the yard of Silwan School in occupied Jerusalem. It is reported that 250 students have been transferred to another school. The so-called Ministry of Education affiliated with the occupation has stopped financial funding for the Ibrahimi School in occupied Jerusalem since the beginning of this year, under the pretext of preventing the ministry's inspection crews from entering the school in December of last year. In addition to the occupation authorities storming the Arab Orphan School in the town of Beit Hanina in March under the pretext of counting the number of students, but they checked the curricula being taught. Students’ access to their schools was imposed more than once at the Shuafat racial camp checkpoint in Jerusalem, and students’ buses were prevented from passing through the same checkpoint.
As for the suppression of activities and the dispersal of national gatherings, the occupation forces raided the Arbaeen diwaniya in the town of Issawiya to break up a meeting of the Student Parents Union in occupied Jerusalem schools in early January, under the pretext that it was funded by the Palestinian Authority, as well as the continuous suppression of the weekly peaceful demonstration of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, calling for an end to the displacement policy. racist.
In the framework of assaulting and restricting the work of the medical staff, the occupation forces arrested during the month of May the medical staff of the Ministry of Health, who vaccinated school students in the occupied city of Jerusalem, among them: Sabreen Ayad, Faryal Zuwaid, Mahmoud Saad and Muhammad Dawood.
The occupation forces assaulted the ambulance and the paramedics while transporting the martyr Muhammad Ali to the hospital.
Attacks on journalists
As for the attack on journalists and during the Flags March, settlers attacked the journalists with stones while they were covering the march in occupied Jerusalem, which led to the injury of journalist Yahya Abu Zneid. The Jewish extremists also threw empty bottles at the press crews in the vicinity of Damascus Gate in occupied Jerusalem.
The occupation forces prevented journalists who hold the press card of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate in Jerusalem, in addition to the international card, from being in the vicinity of Damascus Gate to cover the ongoing Judaization and the march of the so-called unification of Jerusalem. Settlers assaulted the journalist, Amir Poirat, during the flag march in occupied Jerusalem, and one of the settlers threatened them with "killing one by one" and uttered disgusting obscenities at them, as media cameras monitored all of this and posted it on social media.
Settlement projects
The occupation authorities seek to impose a new reality on the occupied city of Jerusalem through the implementation of dangerous settlement projects. During the first half of the year 2023, the occupation government approved 23 settlement projects, the most prominent of which are:
The human rights organization "Ir Amim" revealed that the occupation government has agreed to build a new settlement plan, near Qalandia, as part of a series of recent Judaization projects in Jerusalem and the West Bank. Yesterday, Sunday, the occupation municipality approved, with the roads sub-committee in the Supreme Planning Council of the occupation civil administration, a new plan to build settlement roads in the vicinity of Jerusalem.
- The occupation announced its intention to build 400 new settlement units on the lands of the town of Qalandia, north of Jerusalem, and within the plan, the occupation municipality approved a project to pave settlement roads near Qalandia.
- The occupation announced a settlement project to build the largest university campus for religious and ultra-Orthodox settlements, which will devour lands from the abandoned villages of Lifta and Deir Yassin.
The occupation government approved adding about $17 million to the budget for digging tunnels under the Al-Buraq Wall and the Old City of occupied Jerusalem.
- The occupation government agreed to allocate 14 million shekels to complete the planning and until the start of work on the road known as the "Sovereignty Road" to enable construction in the "E1" settlement project. According to the plan, the entrance to Al-Eizariya will be closed from the direction of the city and the Al-Za'im checkpoint will be moved towards "Mishor Adumim", separating "Ma'ale Adumim" from the Palestinian space by the apartheid wall, and thus there will be no need for the Al-Za'im checkpoint currently located between Jerusalem and "Ma'ale Adumim".
The occupation authorities announced a new settlement plan that includes the construction of settlement commercial centers and towers, in addition to large areas of construction for settlement housing and recreational centers for settlers, on an area estimated at 1.2 million square meters, as it is located at the entrance to the west of Jerusalem, specifically on the lands of the destroyed town of Lifta in 1948, and the so-called sovereign institutions will be established, and tunnels and railways will pass from under the ground in the region to connect it directly with Tel Aviv, and it will also include embassies and hotels.
To read the detailed report, click here