Palestine: Al Aqsa mosque stormed, demolition orders & more lands confiscated

(Palestine-file photo)

Jewish settlers storm the Aqsa mosque

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)– Jewish settlers, supporting MK Moshe Feilgin, broke into the Aqsa mosque in occupied Jerusalem through the Maghareba gate on Thursday morning.

The settlers roamed the holy compound’s various plazas under tight police protection.

A group of Feiglin’s supporters had vowed to storm the holy site on Thursday in line with what they called the “monthly ascension to the temple mount”.

Eyewitnesses said that a small number of settlers stormed the site at first comprising five males and seven females then another group of 15 settlers broke into the site along with Feilgin who promised them in a speech that more such acts would follow.

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Aqsa foundation rebuts claims about finding Jewish relics near Aqsa Mosque

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)– The Aqsa foundation for endowment and heritage refuted an Israeli claim about finding Hebrew artifacts in the vicinity of the Aqsa Mosque and described it as lies and a figment of the Jewish imagination.

In a press release on Thursday, the Aqsa foundation affirmed that the archeological facts state that there are no Jewish antiquities dating back to the time of the alleged temple either around the Aqsa Mosque or in the whole city of Jerusalem, noting that international and Israeli archeologists had already admitted that.

It highlighted that the Arab Canaanites were the first people who lived and built Jerusalem and named it “Jebus”, while the Muslim Arabs ruled it for 14 centuries.

The foundation also said that the Israeli occupation and its antiquities authority launched lately a propaganda campaign, including the distribution of printed materials, about the presence of Jewish findings around Jerusalem especially near the Aqsa Mosque.

The foundation added that the Israeli occupation attempts to fabricate a false Jewish history in Jerusalem by propagating myths and legends about the presence of a temple’s remains beneath the Aqsa Mosque in order to realize its ambition to demolish it.

This came in response to recent claims made by the Israeli antiquities authority and Jewish societies like Elad about finding, for the first time, relics dating back to the Roman and Byzantine times and related to the alleged Jewish temple.

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IOA issues demolition orders against homes in Silwan district

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)– The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) on Wednesday issued demolition orders against Palestinian homes in Silwan district of Jerusalem.

The information center of Wadi Hilwa-Silwan stated that Israeli civil servants escorted by policemen stormed the neighborhoods of Bir Ayyub and Ein Loza in Silwan district and stuck demolition orders on the wall of some homes.

The center added that the civil servants took photos of the houses and the demolition announcements on the walls, noting that one of the houses received a demolition notice for the second time.

The families of Abasi, Awda and Tayeh, and others, who own these houses, would be rendered homeless if the IOA carried out its threat to raze their homes.

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Occupation confiscates 379 dunums of lands in the south of Nablus

NABLUS, (PIC)– Israeli government announced on Wednesday that it confiscated hundreds of dunums of Palestinian lands in the south of the city of Nablus under security allegations.

Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian official in charge of settlements file in the northern part of the West Bank, stated that the Commander of the Israeli army’s Central Command Nitzan Alon issued a decision to confiscate 379 dunums of the lands in Kafr Qalil adjacent to a settlement established on citizens’ lands south of Nablus city.

The occupation has dramatically and significantly increased the confiscations of lands in Nablus, in recent times, as it seized in the last month more than 950 dunums of Palestinian lands in a number of villages.

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’Israel’ Okays al-Quds Settlement Construction Prior to Kerry’s Visit

Al Ahed news

The “Israeli” occupation illegally approved on Wednesday the construction of a settlement in occupied al-Quds prior to US Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit for so-called peace talks.

The United Nations Human Rights Council has said in January that “Israeli” settlements amount to “creeping annexation” of Palestinian territories by “Israel” and have taken a “heavy toll” on the rights and sovereignty of Palestinians.

On Wednesday, Meir Margalit, a Jerusalem City Council member from the left-wing Meretz party, criticized Wednesday’s settlement approval and described it as “provocation” by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

“This is a provocation by Netanyahu’s government when John Kerry is coming to re-start the negotiations,” Meir Margalit, a Council member in al-Quds said.

“To approve these houses in Har Homa, or also known as Jabal Abu Ghneim in [al-Quds], is a foolish move,” Margalit said.

Brachie Sprung, an advisor to the Jerusalem mayor noted that thousands of housing units are expected to be built throughout occupied al-Quds in coming years.

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IOA bulldozes vast areas in Bethlehem

BETHLEHEM, (PIC)– The Israeli occupation authorities (IOA) bulldozed vast tracts of Palestinian land in Wadi Rahal area in Bethlehem on Thursday.

Abdullah Ziyada, the Wadi Rahal municipality council chairman, said that five Israeli bulldozers, escorted by Israeli army troops, launched bulldozing operation in Khilat Al-Nahal land.

He said that the destruction did not spare hothouses, fences, and cultivated land lots.

The chairman pointed out that IOA served demolition notices to other land owners in the same area about a month ago after claiming that the land was confiscated.