Introduction to the report:
During January 2025, the city of Jerusalem witnessed an escalation in the occupation’s attacks, which targeted holy sites, properties, and the people of Jerusalem in an attempt to impose new facts on the ground. Arrests and forced displacement attempts escalated, in addition to intensifying raids on Al-Aqsa Mosque, which faced repeated attempts to impose Talmudic rituals inside it. On the other hand, these attacks did not deter the people of Jerusalem from clinging to their land, as crowds of worshipers continued to guard Al-Aqsa. This report reviews the most prominent Israeli violations documented by Jerusalem News Network During the month, highlighting the extent of the targeting of Jerusalem and its people.
Martyrs of Jerusalem
The boy Adam Ayman Sub Laban (15 years old) from the town of Kafr Aqab was martyred after being targeted by the occupation forces’ bullets at the Qalandia military checkpoint, while six other Jerusalemites were injured during separate attacks.
Al-Aqsa Mosque raids
The occupation continued to facilitate the large-scale incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque, as the number of settlers storming the mosque’s courtyards reached 5427 Settlers, during their raids, performed public Talmudic rituals, including epic prostration, and lit the eight Hanukkah candles. The occupation’s repressive measures against Jerusalemites also escalated, by preventing young men from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque to perform dawn and Friday prayers, and closing its gates when sirens sounded following a missile attack from Yemen.
Despite the attacks, Al-Aqsa is full of worshipers
Despite these attacks, Al-Aqsa remained steadfast and embraced the crowds of worshipers, as tens of thousands commemorated the Isra and Mi'raj, and hundreds of buses poured in from the occupied interior to transport the worshipers, whose number exceeded 250,000 during the five Friday prayers of the month.
Escalation of demolition and displacement operations
The occupation intensified its demolition policy, which affected 22 facilities, the owners of 16 of which were forced to demolish them with their own hands, in a scene that reflects the extent of the systematic targeting. The most prominent thing documented by the network was the demolition of six facilities belonging to the Awida family in Silwan, and four belonging to the Jaabis family in Jabal Mukaber, in addition to the demolition of the Taqwa prayer hall in the town of Sur Baher. The occupation court also issued decisions to vacate 18 residential apartments in the Batn al-Hawa neighborhood in Silwan, belonging to the Basbous and Rajabi families, while the occupation municipality distributed more than 15 demolition and confiscation notices for homes and lands in Issawiya, Silwan, and al-Zaim, and a final decision was issued to demolish the building of the martyr Muhammad Shihab from Jerusalem in the town of al-Ram.
Widespread arrest campaigns
The month witnessed more than 90 arrests in Jerusalem and its suburbs, including dozens of Palestinian workers under the pretext of entering Jerusalem without permits, in addition to the arrest of 10 girls, including 5 from inside Al-Aqsa under the pretext of drawing on children’s faces during the Isra and Mi’raj commemoration. The occupation also arrested 14 Jerusalemites on charges of celebrating the freedom of Jerusalemite prisoner Ashraf Zaghir, and 12 others during a campaign targeting the town of Anata.
The Flood of Freedom Deal... Liberating Jerusalemite Prisoners
In a significant development, the Palestinian resistance succeeded in liberating 63 Jerusalemite prisoners as part of the “Flood of the Free” deal, which included the release of 11 Jerusalemite boys, 9 female prisoners, 20 prisoners sentenced to life in prison, and 23 with long sentences. However, the occupation continued its repressive practices, deporting 16 of the liberated prisoners outside Palestine and imposing strict restrictions on their families, preventing them from celebrating or making statements to the media.
Arbitrary occupation measures
The oppressive policies against Jerusalemites continued with new arbitrary decisions, as the occupation renewed the decision to deport the activist Khadija Khweis from the West Bank for 6 months, and the Israeli Minister of Interior announced the withdrawal of the Jerusalemite identity card from the freed prisoner Muhammad Asaad Obeidat from the town of Abu Dis. In addition, the occupation tightened its security measures, closing the checkpoints surrounding Jerusalem, and launched campaigns targeting vehicles and shops, especially in Silwan, Jabal al-Mukaber, and Shuafat camp. The Israeli Ministry of Education also threatened to close the Al-Furqan Charitable Schools Foundation, in an attempt to undermine education in Jerusalem.
Settler attacks and escalation of violations
The violations did not stop there, as the settlers escalated their attacks on Jerusalemites’ vehicles on “Begin Road” and at the entrances to Jerusalem.
These violations come as part of a systematic policy to tighten the noose on the people of Jerusalem. However, their increasing steadfastness and their continuous gathering at Al-Aqsa Mosque confirm that Jerusalem will remain resistant to Judaization, and its people will remain the spearhead in confronting the occupation and its settlement plans.
