After the recent escalation in the city of Jerusalem, and the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, the occupation police escalated the policy of deportation from Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Dozens of deportation orders were issued collectively against Jerusalemites and employees of the Islamic Endowments Department in Jerusalem, ranging from 15 days to six months, under false pretexts represented in "obstructing the work of the occupation police in Al-Aqsa," "the threat to state security."

Illegal Deportation

Al-Aqsa Mosque guard Fadi Elyan, who has been deported for 6 months, reported to Safa about his deportation, saying: "After the Israeli aggression on Gaza ended, and the settlers' incursions resumed, specifically on May 23, the occupation forces arrested me while I was working inside Al-Aqsa, under the pretext of confronting to the incursions carried out by them."

Elyan added, "After interrogating me for several hours, I was handed a decision of deportation from Al-Aqsa Mosque for a period of 6 months. This is arbitrary and illegal."

Elyan was arrested and summoned several times, and he was deported from Al-Aqsa more than 5 times for different periods. He also spent a year in the occupation prisons, due to his close connection with his work as a guard for Al-Aqsa.

Moreover, he explained that the occupation has recently escalated arrest and deportation campaigns from Al-Aqsa and Old Jerusalem, in an attempt to avenge the steadfastness of the Palestinians

He said that the policy of deportation constitutes a criminal and unjust method that the occupation uses to empty Al-Aqsa of Muslims, in preparation for allowing settlers to storm it, calling on all Palestinians to confront this policy and put an end to the practices of the occupation in Jerusalem.

Revenge on Jerusalemites

The specialist in Jerusalem affairs, Nasser Al-Hadmi, said to Safa that "the occupation authorities are practicing a campaign of deportation from Al-Aqsa Mosque in order to take revenge on the Jerusalemites, especially after their failure in the Sword of Al-Quds in the Gaza Strip."

Al-Hadmi added that "the occupation is fully aware that the main obstacle to the implementation of its policies against Al-Aqsa Mosque is the Jerusalemites who expose its daily practices and violations by publishing them on social media."

“Therefore, the occupation wants to take revenge on the people of Jerusalem, by returning to the racist practices that preceded the recent events in the city and the aggression on Gaza, through the escalation of the campaigns of arrests, and deportations from Al-Aqsa and the Old City,” said Al-Hadmi.

In order to face the occupation’s plans and systematic practices and confront the policy of deportation, Al-Hadmi stressed the need for steadfastness and the intensification of the Palestinian presence in Al-Aqsa.

Full Control

The lawyer Khaled Zabarka added to Safa that "the deportation campaign comes in the context of the general Israeli plan targeting Al-Aqsa. The occupation authorities want to control everything that is happening at Al-Aqsa. They imposed military force inside the mosque during the month of Ramadan and recently allowed extremists to perform their Talmudic rituals."

In his view, "This indicates that there is a clear change in Israeli policy towards Al-Aqsa, especially after the normalization agreements, and the involvement of Arab politicians with its Zionist project."

From the beginning of Ramadan, the occupation authorities have deported more than 100 Palestinians from Al-Aqsa Mosque, according to Zabarka.

He affirmed that everyone - the Palestinian authority, the factions, and the Arab and Islamic world - is required to play their role in protecting Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa, and defending the cause in international forums, as well as supporting the Palestinian presence in the city.