A wounded demonstrator is evacuated from a protest site during clashes with Israeli troops along the Israel-Gaza border in the southern Gaza Strip on Friday. (Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters)
Thu 02 January 2020:
A total of 149 Palestinians, including 33 children, have been killed by Israeli strikes and sniper gunshots throughout the Palestinian territories in 2019, according to a report by the National Rally for the Families of the Martyrs of Palestine.
“The number of slain children reached 33, which is about 23 percent of the total death toll, and represents an increase of five percent compared to 2018,” Mohammed Sbeihat, secretary-general of the National Gathering of Palestinian Martyrs’ Families, noted.
In the past five years, 807 Palestinians were killed by Israel. Of the 149 victims in 2019, 112 were from the Gaza Strip and 37 from the West Bank, said Sbeihat.
According to the group, the Israeli authorities continue to detain the bodies of 306 martyrs, including 15 from this year.
“The bloodiest month of the year was November, during which 44 Palestinians were killed,” said Sbeihat.
Nearly 30,000 settlers stormed Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa in 2019
Nearly 30,000 Israeli settlers forced their way into Al-Aqsa Mosque in 2019, Jerusalem’s Islamic Endowment – or Waqf – organisation said this week.
According to Azzam Khatib, director of Jerusalem’s Waqf department, 29,610 Israeli settlers stormed al-Aqsa Mosque last year with being armed by occupying police forces.
“All signs and data indicate an escalation in the frequency of violations against the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and its surroundings during this year through a series of unprecedented trespasses, which constitute an infringement on the historical and legal status of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque as an Islamic mosque for Muslims alone under the patronage of King Abdullah II (of Jordan),” he said.
Khatib warned against “attempts by the occupying power to exploit the issue of Al-Aqsa Mosque as a platform to achieve political gains and for electoral propaganda for individuals and groups, who do not understand the dangers of these actions, in their efforts and insistence to agitate the feelings of millions of Muslims around the world”.
Jews are barred from praying at the compound under a longstanding arrangement between Israel and the religious organisation. While Jews are permitted to visit, Jewish tradition also maintains that Jews should avoid entering the holy site.
However, the ban on Jewish worship is regularly condemned by some nationalists, including members of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyhu’s right-wing coalition.
Jordan’s foreign ministry expressed “the kingdom’s strong condemnation” over Erdan’s comments, demanding “an immediate end to Israel’s violations and all its attempts to change the historic and legal status quo” at the site.
Al-Aqsa mosque is the third holiest place in Islam and a key Palestinian national symbol.
The Temple Mount is also the holiest spot in Judaism, believed to be the site of two biblical-era Jewish temples.
It is located in occupied East Jerusalem, which was illegally annexed by Israel in 1967.
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