OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)
Wadi Hilweh Information Center reported that the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) demolished 26 structures and arrested 250 Palestinians in Jerusalem during the month of April.
The center explained in a report monitoring occupation violations in Jerusalem during April, that most of the houses demolished by the IOA during the past month were inhabited and had been standing for years.
It indicated that the demolition operations were mainly concentrated in the town of Silwan, especially in al-Bustan neighborhood, along with demolitions in Jabal al-Mukabbir, as-Suwwana, and the Old City.
It pointed out that most of the demolition operations were carried out personally by the homeowners, to avoid paying heavy financial fines and demolition costs, or to avoid causing damage to neighboring houses.
It confirmed that the IOA continued during April, to carry out daily arrest campaigns in Jerusalem, as the number of detainees exceeded 250, including women, youths, elderly people, and hundreds of West Bank ID holders.
Regarding the incursions into the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, marked increases in the numbers of intruding settlers were recorded during April, most notably: the incursion of 632 settlers into the Mosque coinciding with what is called “Independence Day”, and 488 settlers on the day the Mosque was reopened.
The center mentioned that Al-Aqsa witnessed a series of violations, represented by performing collective and public prayers and what is known as “epic prostration” in the courtyards, organizing dancing and singing circles, especially in the eastern side near the Bab al-Rahma prayer hall, and chanting religious hymns along the western path with frequent stops, in addition to raising the Israeli flags inside the Mosque, and wearing clothes carrying symbols, flags, and pictures of the alleged “Temple”.
In late April, extremist “Temple groups” issued expanded versions of “prayer texts” for use during Al-Aqsa incursions.
The information center monitored 95 deportation decisions from Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Old City, with periods ranging between one week and six months.
As part of the policy of pursuing religious figures and authorities and tightening the noose on them, the Israeli police on 17 April prevented the Imam and preacher of Al-Aqsa, Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, from entering the Mosque, following his attempt to arrive to perform Friday prayer, despite the end of his deportation period which lasted about two years.
The Israeli police also summoned Sheikhs Raed Salah and Kamal al-Khatib from 1948 occupied Palestine for investigation at the “al-Qishla” center in Nazareth, and banned them from accessing Al-Aqsa Mosque for a period of one week with the possibility of renewing the ban for several months.
According to the information center, the IOA continues to detain the bodies of 30 Jerusalemite martyrs who hold Israeli IDs, the oldest of them since October 2016, including ten children.