OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)
Europeans for Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Association warned of the danger of the decision by the extremist Israeli Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, to officially allow Jews to pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque, despite the Israeli government’s subsequent claim that there is no change in the status quo policy at the Mosque.
The Association said in its monthly report that the Israeli occupation authorities are working in more than one direction to impose a fait accompli to entrench the temporal and spatial division of Al-Aqsa Mosque, while intensifying the policy of demolition and ethnic cleansing in the occupied city to impose a demographic change that alters the identity of the city.
According to the report, the Israeli occupation forces committed 730 violations distributed over 16 patterns of human rights violations in Jerusalem during last July, with the incursions and raids accounting for 48.9%, followed by arrests at 15.8%.
The report documented 44 incidents of direct shooting and assault by the Israeli occupation forces in the neighborhoods of Jerusalem. This resulted in the martyrdom of the young man Ahmad Nidal Aslan, who succumbed to serious wounds he sustained in the Qalandiya refugee camp on July 24, after being shot by the occupation army. Eight others were injured, dozens suffered from suffocation, and at least 17 citizens were subjected to beatings and torture.
The report documented 357 incursion operations in the towns and neighborhoods of Jerusalem by occupation forces, during which they arrested 115 citizens, including 10 children and two women, and summoned 6 others and imposed house arrest on 5 citizens.
Regarding demolition operations, the report documented 46 demolition and destruction operations that affected 23 homes, 9 of which were forced to be demolished by their owners, leading to the displacement of 131 citizens, and the destruction of 22 other facilities. Furthermore, 36 demolition notices and orders were issued against other homes and facilities.
The report also mentioned that an Israeli court issued a decision to evict 30 Jerusalemites from the Al-Rajabi family in the Batn Al-Hawa neighborhood in the town of Silwan, while the family affirms its steadfastness in the neighborhood, coinciding with awaiting the Israeli court’s decision on the appeal filed by the family regarding the seizure of their home.
It also warned of the settlers’ seizure of the home of Jawad Abu Nab after storming it in the Batn Al-Hawa neighborhood, south of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, exploiting the absence of the home’s owners.
Europeans for Al-Quds warned of the Israeli efforts to impose a demographic change in the city of Jerusalem, using all its governmental, political and security apparatuses for this purpose. On the other hand, the settlers and their settlement associations are being given free rein to take control of as many properties as possible in the city.
The report documented 5 decisions and measures within the framework of entrenching settlement and Judaization in occupied Jerusalem, the most prominent of which were the opening of a series of tunnels, the approval of the construction of a settlement tower, the establishment of a settlement outpost, and 3 parks for settlers.
Regarding the targeting of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the report indicated the participation of 3,659 settlers and thousands under the name of tourists in storming the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which was repeated over 22 days, and monitored 9 other major violations by the occupation, the most prominent of which was the announcement by the Israeli Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, on July 24th, allowing Jews to pray in the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The report also highlighted the continued implementation by the Israeli occupation authorities of the policy of expulsion from the Al-Aqsa Mosque or the city of Jerusalem, and during this month, 3 expulsion decisions were issued.
As the settlers continued to carry out attacks against citizens in occupied Jerusalem, this month, Europeans for Al-Quds documented 10 attacks carried out by the settlers, including attacks on citizens and their properties, and incitement.
The occupation forces continue to impose a suffocating siege on the Palestinian towns and neighborhoods in Jerusalem, and restrict the access of Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza Strip. They also continue their attacks on public freedoms and hinder the work of media teams in the occupied city.
The institution reiterated its demand to end the Israeli occupation of the city of Jerusalem and to stop all serious practices and violations against its indigenous inhabitants.
It called on the international community in general and the European Union countries in particular to assume their responsibilities in this regard, as the city of Jerusalem is occupied by virtue of historical rights and United Nations resolutions, and any measures and practices by force of oppression will not change this right.
The report finally emphasized the illegality of any de facto measures taken by the occupation authorities in the city of Jerusalem, and that all the measures taken by the occupation authorities following the occupation of the city in 1967 do not change its legal status as an occupied territory.
