In its annual report, Wadi Al-Hilwa and Silwan Information Centre have said that the Israeli occupation arrested 1,450 residents from Jerusalem in 2013, including 450 children and 25 women. They have displaced 446, destroyed 95 shops and issued destruction warrants to the owners of hundreds of houses.
Last year, the Information Centre said they had witnessed a sharp increase in the targeting of Palestinian residents in Jerusalem, including arbitrary arrests of women, children and elderly people.
One of the children who was arrested last year was a 5 year old and from Silwan. He was arrested and confined inside a military vehicle for one hour.
More than 20 children from those arrested were interrogated and kept under remand arrest for more than five days in solitary confinement. During this time they were confined to cells and prevented from seeing lawyers.
In addition, the children were tried in secret hearings in which none of their relatives or lawyers were present. The cells where they were kept, the report said, did not meet minimum humanitarian standards.
The report also said that hundreds of Palestinians in Jerusalem were displaced as their houses were destroyed by Israeli forces who claimed that the houses were built without licenses.
It said that hundreds of families were handed demolition warrants under the same pretext, while the Israeli government announced plans to build more than 4,500 settlement units despite the resumption of negotiations over final status issues.
During the same year, hundreds of Palestinians were prevented from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Friday prayer was cancelled six times by Israeli occupation forces.
Meanwhile, the report said that more than 9,050 Israeli extremist settlers, including ministers, MKs, and other senior officials invaded Al-Aqsa Mosque during the same year. More than 2,000 Israeli soldiers and intelligence members have broken into the mosque.
The report said that calls to divide the mosque on a time and place basis have sharply increased and has been discussed at government and Knesset meetings.
Senior Israeli officials, according to the report, have spoken candidly about building the “Jewish Temple” in certain parts of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Israeli soldiers and extremists stole the keys to Al-Magharbeh Gate and broke into the mosque. Palestinian protesters there face continuous Israeli invasions, which sometimes lead to severe violence when Israeli forces open fire on Palestinian protesters.
Source: AlMesryoon