Official Report Monitors Escalation of Judaization in Jerusalem: 10,000 Intruders into Al-Aqsa and 15 Settlement Plans During the Month

An official report issued by the Jerusalem Governorate revealed a dangerous escalation in systematic Israeli occupation crimes against Jerusalemite residents and institutions during the past May. The report clarified that these measures directly aim to change the geographical and demographic character of the occupied city and expel its original inhabitants through policies of oppression and forced displacement.

Regarding the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, sources monitored the intrusion of approximately 9,934 settlers into the mosque's courtyards, including 2,690 who entered under the guise of 'tourism'. These intrusions occurred amidst tight security protection from occupation forces, which provided cover for the intruders to perform provocative rituals and raise Israeli flags inside the Holy Sanctuary.

The past month witnessed a historical precedent, the first of its kind since the occupation of the city in 1967, where settlers' intrusion into Al-Aqsa Mosque on Friday coincided with the so-called biblical 'Feast of Weeks'. The report considered this step to be within the context of the occupation's continuous attempts to impose a new temporal and spatial reality inside the mosque and cross red lines.

Concerning field violations, occupation forces continued their policy of field killings, resulting in the martyrdom of 3 individuals and the injury of 17 others with varying degrees of injuries due to live and rubber bullet firing. Sources also recorded settlers carrying out 45 organized attacks targeting citizens and their properties, in addition to attacks on Bedouin communities and Islamic and Christian holy sites.

In the arrests file, the report documented the detention of 101 Jerusalemite citizens, including 3 women and 9 children, most of whom were subjected to abuse and excessive beating during the arrest process. These campaigns were accompanied by arbitrary judicial procedures, with 15 judicial rulings issued, including 10 administrative detention orders that lack the minimum standards of international justice.

The penalties did not stop at arrest but extended to include the policy of forced deportation and house arrest to undermine popular activism in the city. Occupation courts issued 67 decisions for deportation from Al-Aqsa Mosque for varying periods, in addition to 8 house arrest decisions targeting a number of young men and children to restrict their freedom and prevent them from leading normal lives.

As for the demolition file, occupation mechanisms and its municipality carried out 84 demolition and bulldozing operations targeting homes and commercial and industrial establishments in various neighborhoods of Jerusalem. Among these operations, citizens were forced to carry out 21 self-demolition operations of their homes under the threat of exorbitant fines, while occupation bulldozers carried out 56 other demolition operations that destroyed Palestinian properties.

The report addressed the fierce attack targeting educational, cultural, and media institutions in the city, where journalists were pursued and prevented from coverage through shooting or deportation. These practices come within the framework of the occupation's endeavor to obscure the Palestinian narrative and impose complete control over the public sphere in occupied Jerusalem.

On the settlement front, the report revealed that the occupation pushed forward 15 new colonial plans aimed at expanding settlements and seizing more land. These plans included the approval of building 547 new settlement units, in addition to depositing other plans targeting vast areas of land in the towns of Nabi Samuel and Beit Iksa.

The report concluded by referring to a dangerous decision to convert the former headquarters of 'UNRWA' in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood into military and security facilities belonging to the occupation. This step coincides with other Judaization projects in the vicinity of Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Al-Buraq Wall area, signaling a new phase of escalation aimed at resolving the issue of Jerusalem demographically and urbanistically.

May recorded a precedent not seen since 1967 with settlers intruding into Al-Aqsa on Friday under tight protection.