OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)
The “Europeans for Jerusalem” organization reported that Israeli occupation forces committed 652 violations, categorized into 16 types of human rights abuses in Jerusalem during November. These violations were primarily raids and invasions, accounting for 55.8% of incidents, followed by arrests at 9.5%.
The organization’s monthly report, which monitors violations in Jerusalem, documented 35 incidents of gunfire and direct assaults by Israeli forces in neighborhoods across occupied Jerusalem.
The report recorded the death of elderly Jerusalemite Ahmad Misbah from Ras Al-Amud neighborhood, who succumbed to his injuries after being run over by a settler on November 21. Additionally, 17 Jerusalemites were injured, and dozens suffered from tear gas inhalation as a result of attacks by Israeli forces. At least 16 individuals were subjected to physical assault and mistreatment.
Israeli forces carried out 364 raids on towns and neighborhoods in Jerusalem, arresting 62 people, including seven children and five women. Four individuals were summoned for questioning, while two others were placed under house arrest.
Home demolitions and displacement
The report highlighted 31 demolition and destruction operations targeting 20 homes, eight of which owners were forced to self-demolish, leaving 103 people homeless. It also documented the destruction of 10 structures, including a mosque, and the issuance of 22 demolition orders targeting homes and other structures.
Israeli forces confiscated agricultural equipment from a plot of land in the village of Beit Surik, preventing Palestinian residents from utilizing the land.
Demographic changes and settlement expansion
The report emphasized that Israeli authorities are working systematically to impose demographic changes in Jerusalem, leveraging government, political, and security apparatuses. Additionally, settlers and their organizations are given free rein to seize as many properties as possible in the city.
The report documented four key decisions to intensify settlement and Judaization efforts in occupied Jerusalem, including plans for a new settlement neighborhood on Qalandia Airport lands, constructing 760 settlement units in western Jerusalem, and approving a project to develop a complex in the Rasko neighborhood, south of central Jerusalem, which includes 292 housing units.
Targeting Al-Aqsa Mosque
The report noted the participation of 3,642 settlers, alongside thousands labeled as “tourists,” in the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque over 19 days in November. Six other notable violations were observed, including calls to demolish Al-Aqsa Mosque and the performance of Talmudic rituals within its courtyards.
Israeli authorities continued their policy of banning individuals from Al-Aqsa Mosque or the city of Jerusalem. Four banishment orders were issued against Jerusalemites during the month.
Settler violence
Settlers perpetrated five assaults against Jerusalem residents in November, including the fatal incident involving the elderly man.
Israeli forces maintained a suffocating blockade on Palestinian towns and neighborhoods in Jerusalem and restricted access for Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza. They also continued their attacks on public freedoms and impeded the work of journalists in the occupied city.
The report highlighted the ongoing violation of Jerusalemites’ economic, social, and cultural rights. Numerous fines and penalties were imposed on business owners during the month.
The report concluded by warning of the gravity of ongoing violations in Jerusalem, particularly the unchecked aggression by extremist settlers against citizens and the attempts to impose new realities at Al-Aqsa Mosque, including its temporal and spatial division. The occupation’s escalations in Jerusalem, under the pretext of its war on Gaza, continue to exacerbate the suffering of Jerusalemites while advancing Judaization efforts.
