An intense deployment of Israeli police and severe restrictions prevented worshipers from reaching Al-Aqsa Mosque to perform Friday prayers, with the exception of those over seventy years old, as the confrontations since the launch of Operation “Al-Aqsa Flood” against the occupation entered its seventh day.
The Israeli police imposed severe restrictions on the arrival of worshipers to Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem to perform Friday prayers, with the exception of those over seventy years of age.
Large Israeli police forces were deployed around the Old City and its alleys, and set up checkpoints at its entrances.
The Islamic Endowments Department in Jerusalem revealed that “the Old City is completely surrounded, with only those over 70 years of age allowed to enter,” adding that “Al-Aqsa Mosque is almost empty of worshipers.”
Eyewitnesses explained that "the Old City and its surroundings resemble a military barracks, with the large presence of Israeli police in it, which prevents non-residents from entering it."
Palestinian popular anger is increasing over the widespread attacks carried out by Israel on the Gaza Strip and settler attacks in the occupied West Bank.
At dawn on Saturday, Hamas and other Palestinian factions in Gaza launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, in response to “the continuing attacks by Israeli forces and settlers against the Palestinian people, their property and sanctities, especially Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem.”
On the other hand, the Israeli army launched Operation Iron Swords, and continues to launch intensive raids on many areas in the Gaza Strip, which is inhabited by more than two million Palestinians who suffer deteriorating living conditions as a result of an ongoing Israeli siege since 2006.
Human Rights Watch confirms Israel's use of white phosphorus in Gaza and the Lebanese border
Human Rights Watch documented the Israeli army's use of white phosphorus in military operations in the Gaza Strip and on the Lebanese border, calling on Israel to ban all uses of these dangerous munitions.
Human Rights Watch said on Thursday that it had confirmed that the Israeli army used white phosphorus in military operations in the Gaza Strip and on the Lebanese border, stressing that the matter exposes civilians to serious and long-term injuries.
The organization stated in its report that it had verified videos taken on October 10 and 11, showing multiple aerial explosions of white phosphorus artillery over the port of the Gaza Strip and two rural sites along the Israeli-Lebanese border.
The report said that the Israeli army's use of white phosphorus in the Gaza Strip "exacerbates the risks to civilians and violates the prohibition imposed by international humanitarian law on exposing civilians to unnecessary danger."
The international organization documented the use of white phosphorus by the Israeli army more than once during the Israeli aggression against Gaza, including the 2009 aggression.
The Israeli army announced Thursday that it had bombed the Gaza Strip with four thousand tons of explosives since Saturday by “launching 6,000 bombs” into Gaza.
The death toll from the Israeli bombing on the Gaza Strip rose to more than 1,400, including 447 children and 248 women, and 6,200 wounded.
White phosphorus, which can be used to send signals and obscure vision, according to the report, “has a wide-ranging effect that can severely burn people and set buildings, fields, etc. on fire.”
Upon contact, white phosphorus can “burn people thermally and chemically, all the way to the bone,” and fragments of white phosphorus can aggravate wounds even after treatment, “and can enter the bloodstream and cause the failure of many organs,” according to the report.
“White phosphorus poses a significant risk of causing painful burns and lifelong suffering,” said Lama Fakih, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch.
She added that white phosphorus is illegally indiscriminate and "can burn homes and cause severe harm to civilians."
Human Rights Watch called on Israel to ban all uses of white phosphorus munitions, and said: “Israel must stop using white phosphorus in populated areas to avoid harming civilians.”