Wadi Hilweh Information Center (Silwanic) – Jerusalem issued its monthly report for the month of February, during which it monitored the attacks and violations carried out by the occupation authorities in the city of Jerusalem.
The Wadi Hilweh Information Center – Jerusalem said that Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood has returned to the forefront of events and random arrests have returned in the city, and the occupation municipality has continued to implement and issue demolition decisions for facilities in the city.
Sheikh Jarrah
On February 13th, the extremist Knesset member Itamar Ben Gavir moved his office to the center of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood (the western part), calling for permanent police protection for a settler residing inside the neighborhood. O days before that, settlers attacked the residents of the neighborhood and their property with stones, pepper spray, pursuit and threats. With the approaching date for evacuating the Salem family from their home, the Jerusalemites announced an open sit-in inside the neighborhood to protect the residents and locals from attacks.
The center said that Knesset member “Ben Gavir” placed his office in the middle of the neighborhood on the confiscated land of the Salem family, and turned the street into a closed military barracks, by placing barriers at its entrances, and preventing entry to it except for residents, with the requirement to present an ID card/ On the first day of the office’s placement, confrontations broke out between Palestinians and occupation forces and settlers. Over the course of the following weeks, the settlers continued to provoke the residents of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood by storming it, organizing marches in it, and raising the Israeli flags under the pretext of “supporting MK Ben Gavir”, who works from the center of the neighborhood.
The center added that the police are trying to prevent residents, Jerusalemites, and solidarity activists from sitting in the neighborhood, and deliberately storming the sit-in area, confiscating chairs, smashing tables, and putting out “burning wood” used for heating. They also break into homes and threaten residents with arrest and prosecution, prevent the raising of Palestinian flags and forcibly confiscate them, and clear the street of protesters and set up roadblocks at all entrances.
On the 22nd of February, the occupation court froze the decision to “evacuate the Salem family” from their home, and consequently the decision issued by the “Execution and Procedure Department” pending a decision on the appeal submitted to the court, which was accompanied by various allegations.
Repression and abuse on the anniversary of the Isra’ and Mi’raj
On February 28, the occupation forces suppressed the celebrations of the Palestinians on the anniversary of Isra’ and Mi’raj during their gathering and presence in the Damascus Gate area in Jerusalem. The forces threw sound bombs and randomly sprayed waste water, used rubber bullets and assaulted the people with batons, to prevent them from sitting and being in the area. They also conducted random arrests against 20 Jerusalemites, most of them children.
Dozens of Palestinians were injured by shrapnel from sound bombs and beatings, including a deaf girl who was hit by a sound bomb, which caused her fractures in the jaw and teeth, and the loss of her “hearing aid” device. Also, a 6-month-old baby was injured in addition to other injuries due to fear and panic.
Settlers’ assault
At the end of last February, a settler shot two brothers near the Hizma checkpoint, northeast of Jerusalem, injuring them variously.
The information center stated that the two brothers, Jawad and Muhammad Abu Khadija, were shot by a settler, after their vehicle collided with each other.
Arrests
The occupation authorities continued to carry out arrests in the city of Jerusalem. The Wadi Hilweh Information Center – Jerusalem monitored 166 arrests, including “3 children below the age of responsibility (less than 12 years old), 53 minors, 9 females, including a girl.”
The information center added that the arrests from Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood and the streets of Jerusalem “Damascus Gate and the streets near it”, recorded about 70 arrests, including about 15 arrests from residents of Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, and the rest were field arrests during the repression and prosecution of Jerusalemites. Most of the detainees were released, provided that they are expelled from the place of detention for periods ranging from 3 days to two weeks.
The occupation authorities also issued deportation decisions from Al-Aqsa, the Old City and Jerusalem, and the center monitored 7 deportation decisions for periods ranging from two weeks to six months.
Demolitions
The occupation authorities continued to carry out demolitions in the city of Jerusalem, where the Wadi Hilweh Information Center monitored the demolition of 18 facilities in Jerusalem, of which 7 were demolished by their owners, including “12 residential facilities, 5 commercial facilities, and a hall.”
The center explained that among the demolished houses was the house of the martyr Fadi Abu Shkheidem in Shu’fat refugee camp in Jerusalem.
The demolitions were concentrated in the village of Anata, Shu’fat refugee camp, Silwan, Beit Hanina, and Jabal Al-Mukabber.
The occupation forces stormed the headquarters of the “Alms/Zakat Office” in Al-Aqsa Mosque, near the Bab al-Rahma prayer hall. They searched it, checked files and papers, and confiscated many files.
