OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)
The organization Europeans for Jerusalem documented 756 violations committed by Israeli occupation forces in the holy city during the month of April.
According to the organization, these compound violations fell into 16 categories of human rights abuses, led by raids and incursions, which accounted for 50.1% of the incidents. There was also a notable rise in assaults at Al-Aqsa Mosque coinciding with the Jewish Passover holiday.
In its monthly report issued Saturday, Europeans for Jerusalem stated that Israeli forces carried out 43 shooting incidents and direct assaults in occupied Jerusalem neighborhoods, resulting in 30 Palestinians being wounded by live or rubber bullets, dozens suffering from suffocation due to tear gas, and at least 27 others being beaten or brutalized.
The report also documented 379 raids on towns and neighborhoods in Jerusalem, which led to the arrest of 58 individuals, including 6 children and 4 women. Additionally, 6 others were summoned for interrogation, and 4 were placed under house arrest.
The report observed 34 demolition and land leveling operations, targeting 17 homes—7 of which owners were forced to self-demolish to avoid heavy fines—and 14 facilities. It also noted the destruction of lands, roads, and walls, along with the issuance of demolition notices for dozens of homes and structures. The occupation authorities justify these actions under the pretext of “unlicensed construction,” despite imposing harsh restrictions that make obtaining permits nearly impossible.
As part of property seizures, Israeli forces confiscated a bulldozer from citizen Jamil Marar in the town of Beit Duqqu northwest of Jerusalem on April 25. The organization also recorded four major settlement-related decisions and actions: launching a settlement project involving the demolition of 95 Palestinian homes and the construction of 392 new Jewish settlement units, building settler roads under the E1 plan, inaugurating the roof of the “Buraq Wall School” and an elevator in the same area, and a plan to construct 1,900 settlement units over 176 dunums between the Tunnels Road and a settlement.
Al-Aqsa Mosque was subjected to extensive violations over the past month, with 10,559 settlers and thousands of tourists storming the Mosque across 21 days. The organization recorded 34 additional violations mostly involving incursions and the performance of Talmudic rituals in its courtyards.
Europeans for Jerusalem highlighted that assaults intensified during the Jewish Passover, with wide-scale, repeated incursions into the Mosque under heavy protection from Israeli forces. These included provocative rituals, violations of the Mosque’s sanctity, and restrictions on Palestinian access—particularly for youth—who were prevented from praying and were assaulted for standing guard.
The organization noted the continued enforcement of expulsion orders from Al-Aqsa Mosque or from Jerusalem. During the month, Israeli authorities issued 9 expulsion orders against Palestinian residents of the city. Settler attacks against Palestinian citizens also continued, with the organization documenting 20 such assaults involving attacks on civilians, arson, and provocative tours in Jerusalem neighborhoods.
The Israeli forces also maintain a suffocating siege on Palestinian towns and neighborhoods in occupied Jerusalem, and continue to restrict access to the city for Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza. Assaults on public freedoms and obstruction of media crews’ work in the city have also persisted.
According to the report, a significant event in April was the closure of the Palestinian Al-Furqan School in Shuafat, Jerusalem, on the grounds of operating without a license, despite being established 30 years ago and serving 1,200 students. Additionally, Israeli forces stormed the UNRWA-run girls’ school in Shuafat refugee camp and handed the principal a military order to shut down the school starting May 8, 2025.
The Israeli occupation also closed the headquarters of the General Federation of Palestinian Trade Unions on Salah al-Din Street in Jerusalem, as part of an escalating campaign targeting national institutions in the city. Furthermore, Israel’s far-right Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, issued an order to shut down the offices of the Jerusalem Fund and Endowment in East Jerusalem—a new hostile move against the Palestinian presence in the city.
Europeans for Jerusalem described this decision as part of a systematic policy aimed at targeting Jerusalem-based institutions and drying up sources of community work in an effort to undermine the social and economic resilience of the city’s Palestinian residents.
The organization renewed its warning of the grave consequences of Israel’s escalating policies in Jerusalem in general and against Al-Aqsa Mosque in particular. It called on the international community to take swift action to pressure Israel to halt its violations and stop attempts to change the status quo at Al-Aqsa Mosque and to Judaize and alter the demographic makeup of the city.
