The Palestine Prisoners center for studies confirmed that it has observed a clear increase in the number of arrests carried out by the occupation against our people from the occupied city of Jerusalem since the beginning of this year, where more than 900 arrests were observed from the towns and areas of the Holy City.
Riad al-Ashkar, the center´s media spokesman, explained in a press release that the arrests in Jerusalem alone account for one third of the number of arrests that took place throughout the occupied territories during the first six months of the year, and amounted to (2,600) arrests, which demonstrates a clear targeting of Jerusalemites with the aim of deter them from protecting the holy places and defending al-Aqsa.
The month of February witnessed the largest campaign of arrests during the first half of the year against The Jerusalemites, coinciding with the events of opening the door of mercy to the worshippers, where dozens of people, including national leaders and clerics, were arrested, including Sheikh Abdul Azim Salhab, president of the Waqf Council, and Sheikh Najah Bekirat. The deputy director general of the Jerusalem Endowments, sheikh Raed Let´s, handed him a decision to remove him from Al-Aqsa for six months, and arrested The Prisoner´s Club director in Jerusalem.
He added that the arrests affected all segments of Jerusalemites, and distributed to all villages, towns and walks of Jerusalem, while Issawiya occupied the largest share of arrests and reached (295) arrests, followed by the area of Shuafat and the arrests reached (130) cases, then Silwan (120) cases, From The Old City of Jerusalem (105 cases) and from the Al-Aqsa Mosque (65) cases of detention.
Detention of children
Al-Ashkar said the arrests from Jerusalem focused on the category of underage children, which amounted to about 300 arrests, accounting for one-third of the arrests from Jerusalem since the beginning of the year, including more than 17 children under the age of 12.
Among the children were a number of wounded, including the 16-year-old boy, Ali Taha, who was shot by the israeli occupation at the Shuafat camp checkpoint, and was arrested and dragged to the ground and prevented from providing treatment to him, and the boy "Mohammed Issam Al-Qawasmi", 15 years old, and was wounded in the back by the arabs in The Shuafat camp in Jerusalem and described his serious injury, and However, he was tied to a hospital bed and is being treated.
The occupation is not enough with the arrest warrants for the children of Jerusalem, but also targets them with the decisions of domestic detention, which require the child to stay for certain periods inside the house, and prevents from leaving the house even for treatment or study, as well as the imposition of the penalty of stayaway from the houses, and the heavy financial penalties on most children. Those who have been brought before the courts whether they are sentenced to actual imprisonment with a fine, or a fine only for their release.
Arrest of The Holy Sepulchre
According to "Al-Ashkar", the occupation continued to target The Holy Women, especially the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and arrested many of them during the current year, and the arrests of women and girls from Jerusalem (43) cases among them are minors, the majority of whom have been released, in exchange for domestic detention, or Stay away from the maximum for different periods.
Among the women arrested by the occupation ,Ghadir al-Amouri, an employee of the Prisoners´ Authority, released her on the condition that she was held in a house for five days, a large fine, as well as the arrest of the girl "Fatima Suleiman", 19 years, after raiding her family home, and released hours later on condition that she be transferred to detention Majda Ahmed Askar, 17, was arrested after breaking into her family home.
He also targeted al-Murabit at al-Aqsa Mosque with arrest and summons, most notably the girl "Aya Abu Naab", and the association "Hanadi Al-Helwani", "Khadija Khois", and "Nizamiya Bekirat", an employee in the manuscripts department in Al-Aqsa, and arrested Mrs. Hala Al-Sharif from Bab al-Amud, under the pretext of raising the Palestinian flag during A march of settlers in which they raised the flags of the occupation.
Three of the prisoners´ mothers were arrested as soon as they left the Al-Aqsa Mosque and surrounded them to investigate the Al-Qasla police station in Old Jerusalem: Khuloud al-Awar, the mother of The Prisoner Soheb al-Awar, Iman al-Awar, and The Mother of The Prisoner Mohammed al-Awar, and Najah Odeh.
