Chairman of the Jerusalem Committee at the Palestinian Legislative Council in Gaza MP Ahmad Abu Halabiya addressed a press conference on Tuesday on the most prominent Israeli violations in Occupied Jerusalem in the first quarter of 2017.
Abu Halabiya said that nearly 6920 Israelis broke into al-Aqsa Mosque during that period including 4565 settlers and 518 military and security officers.
Abu Halabiya stated that Israel opened a “ritual bath” in the Umayyad Palaces which is adjacent to al-Aqsa Mosque from the south and approved a bill to ban the Adhan (call for prayer) in al-Aqsa Mosque and the mosques of Occupied Jerusalem from 11 pm until 6 am of the next day.
Abu Halabiya pointed to the statements of the Israeli Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan in which he said that al-Aqsa Mosque belongs to Jews only.
The Palestinian MP added that Israel besieged a school and a mosque in Khan al-Ahmar area closed Bab al-Asbat and prevented students of Islamic schools from reaching their schools in al-Aqsa Mosque.
He unveiled secret schemes and maps prepared by Elad settlement association to divert the tunnel network under Silwan town through two levels of excavations. Each level stretches along 750 meters to reach the Dome of the Rock.
Two Israeli ministers submitted a proposal to the Israeli government to establish a fund called the “Temple Mount Heritage” in response to the UNESCO resolution issued in October 2016 which stipulates that al-Aqsa Mosque belongs to Muslims and has no ties to Jews according to Abu Halabiya.
Abu Halabiya mentioned that Israel arrested 12 guards of al-Aqsa Mosque and banned many others from entering the Mosque in addition to expelling Palestinian worshipers and preventing them from staying at the Mosque after the evening prayer.
He touched on the Israeli practices against the Jerusalemite people saying that 141 Jerusalemites were arrested including 10 women and 22 boys and girls under 18 the youngest of whom who is also the youngest Palestinian prisoner is the 12-year-old Shaker al-Ashhab.
Israel expelled 19 Jerusalemites and 56 Palestinians from Jerusalem and al-Aqsa Mosque and renewed the travel ban imposed on three Jerusalemites.
The MP pointed out 4 of the Jerusalem Intifada martyrs are from Jerusalem.
Regarding the settlement schemes in the city the Israeli government announced tenders to build 3607 settlement units in East Jerusalem. Two other settlement schemes were announced by the Jerusalem Municipality. The first includes 25000 settlement units in East Jerusalem until 2020 while the second includes 17 settlement units in Ras al-Amud neighborhood in Silwan town.
Abu Halabiya affirmed that the Israeli occupation authorities demolished more than 40 houses and facilities in Jerusalem and forced 3 Jerusalemite citizens to demolish their houses with their own hands. 1600 houses were threatened to be demolished and 85 demolition orders were distributed in Jabal al-Mukaber neighborhood.
