Israeli violence against Palestinians during the month of Ramadan is a yearly occurrence that continues to intensify. In 2022, as in prior years, Israeli police started the month by violently dispersing Palestinians gathered at the Damascus Gate plaza after sundown, assaulting and arresting dozens of people convening to break their fast.
While the first Friday prayers this year was relatively uneventful at the Haram al-Sharif compound, Israeli forces violently dispersed worshipers at the compound during the second Friday, on April 15. Some 152 Palestinians were injured by Israeli Forces, who fired rubber bullets, sprayed tear gas, and beat worshippers, including in raids inside of al-Aqsa Mosque. Around 470 Palestinians were arrested or detained on that day.
Several countries and organizations criticized the attacks, among them Morocco, Bahrain, and the UAE, who have all normalized relations with Israel in recent years. The United Arab List in the Knesset also froze its membership in the Israeli government coalition in response to the attacks on worshipers. Two days later, Israeli forces attacked Palestinians at the holy site again, to allow more than 700 illegal Israeli settlers access. Another 2,500 settlers desecrated the compound between April 18 and April 20.
On the third Friday of Ramadan, on April 22, Israeli forces deployed drones for the first time to fire tear gas at worshipers at the Haram al-Sharif compound. 57 Palestinians were injured by rubber bullets and tear gas fired by Israeli forces, including 15 who were taken to hospitals for treatment. One would later succumb to head injuries. The last Friday of Ramadan witnessed another Israeli assault on Palestinians at the Haram al-Sharif compound, as 42 were injured with rubber bullets and tear gas, leaving 22 hospitalized.
Israel did not only use physical violence to assert its dominance over Palestinian spaces linked to Ramadan celebrations. The Apartheid state also banned the entry of Palestinians males between the ages of 12 to 50 to East Jerusalem for Friday prayers. In addition, there were several periods where Palestinians were asked to hand over their ID cards to Israeli police before entering the Haram al-Sharif compound. Palestinians were told that they could pick up their ID cards at Israeli police stations after their visit, and if they refused to hand over their cards, they would be banned from entering – a tactic Adalah called illegal and an infringement of Palestinians' right to worship.
This featured entry for the newly released month of April 2022 focuses on Israel's attacks on Palestinians during the month of Ramadan. The Chronology offers hundreds of entries relating to Israeli attacks on Palestinian worshipers, infringement of the right to worship, and attempts to change the status quo of the holy places in East Jerusalem.