JERUSALEM, Friday, February 22, 2019 (WAFA) – Israeli military police Friday overnight detained over 40 Palestinians during large-scale raids across East Jerusalem, said the Palestine Prisoner’s Society (PPS) in a press release.

Israeli military police conducted multiple extensive raids across East Jerusalem, detaining over 40 Palestinians, mostly identified as members of Fatah movement, and summoning seven others.

PPS confirmed that the raids, carried out in the East Jerusalem neighborhoods of Silwan, Wadi al-Joz, al-Eissawiya, al-Tur and Jerusalem’s Old City, raised the number of Palestinians detained from the city over the last three days to over 60.

PPS elaborated that 13 detainees will be brought before Israeli courts today, while nine others would be released after 5:00 PM on bail on the condition of being banned entry to the holy site until next Sunday.

The move came amidst escalating tensions inside Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound over the closure of the metal gate leading to Bab al-Rahmeh, on the eastern wall of Jerusalem’s Old City.

Bab al-Rahmeh has been shuttered by Israeli since 2003. At the time, the closure was justified on the grounds of alleged political activities, but the building has remained closed ever since.

The closure of the metal gate with chains and locks was perceived by Palestinian Muslims as a harbinger to the division of the mosque compound and allocation of the eastern section for Israeli Jewish settlers.

K.F.