Jerusalem: The Jerusalem Governorate documented the violations and crimes committed by the Israeli occupation and its colonists in Jerusalem since the onset of the genocidal war on the Gaza Strip in October 2023, showing a dangerous escalation in the policy of collective punishment against Jerusalem's residents and its holy sites.
According to Palestine News and Information Agency - WAFA, the Governorate said in a report issued Sunday that since October 7, 2023, a total of 97 Palestinians in Jerusalem have been killed, reflecting the occupation's continued disregard for Palestinian lives.
Israeli authorities continue to withhold the bodies of 49 Palestinians from Jerusalem, in what is described as a blatant violation of international humanitarian law, which prohibits the withholding of bodies and calls for respect for the human dignity of the victims. The report documented 491 injuries resulting from the excessive use of force by Israeli occupation forces against Jerusalemites, including bullet wounds, beatings, and suffocation from tear gas.
In a significant violation of the historical and legal status quo, 122,784 colonists have stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque since October 7 under heavy Israeli police protection. The Israeli police have imposed a morning and evening visitation system, which is seen as an attempt to enforce a division of the mosque and erase its Islamic identity.
The report also documented 2,688 detentions across various neighborhoods and towns in the Jerusalem Governorate since the beginning of the aggression. Accompanied by harsh rulings from Israeli occupation courts, there have been 723 prison sentences, 171 house arrest orders, 303 expulsion orders from key areas, and 18 travel ban orders issued against Jerusalemite detainees.
Since October 7, Israeli authorities have carried out 742 demolitions and land-leveling operations in the Jerusalem Governorate, primarily targeting Palestinian homes and structures under the pretext of construction without permits. The report claims that these practices aim at emptying the city of its indigenous Palestinian residents.
The withholding of bodies, mass detentions, and demolition operations are highlighted as violations of international law and conventions, including the Geneva Conventions. The report stresses that these actions form part of a systematic Israeli escalation against Jerusalem and its people, amid troubling international silence, which allegedly encourages continued violations without accountability.
