OIC: Israeli Occupation Violates Sanctity of Ramadan with Massacres, Attacks on Mosques

The period from March 11-17, 2025, one day before the Israeli occupation forces ended the ceasefire agreement, witnessed numerous violations that set the stage for this reversal. The most notable incident was the targeting of a charity in Beit Lahia, which resulted in the deaths of nine Palestinians. 

The OIC’s Media Observatory for Israeli Crimes Against Palestinians monitored the week leading up to the escalation of Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip. During this period, the Observatory recorded a total of 116 martyrs, including 79 individuals whose bodies were recovered from under the rubble and 149 wounded.

Since October 7, 2023, the total number of Palestinian martyrs has reached 49,517, with 118,741 injured. Furthermore, the Observatory reported today, Tuesday, that there were 330 martyrs, the majority of whom were women and children, and 440 wounded in one of the most horrific attacks by Israel on the Gaza Strip.

For weeks, the occupying forces have completely prevented the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip and have attempted to control the distribution of this aid while pushing to enable an American company to carry out the mission. This comes before resuming military aggression on the Strip, which could return conditions in Gaza to the catastrophic state that ended on January 19, 2025, when the ceasefire agreement came into effect.

The occupying forces, in their aggression against the Gaza Strip, have disregarded the sanctity of the holy month of Ramadan, continuing their systematic attacks against mosques in the West Bank as well. They stormed the courtyards of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, evicting stationed worshippers on the second Friday night of Ramadan. Additionally, they have imposed strict restrictions on the entry of worshippers to Al-Aqsa from the cities and villages of the West Bank or from occupied Al-Quds itself. For the second week, they have also refused to hand over the Ibrahimi Mosque in the Old City of Hebron to the Palestinian Waqf administration, as is customary every Friday during Ramadan. The occupying forces blew up the main gate of Al-Nasr Mosque in the Nur Shams camp in Tulkarm and subsequently conducted a search.

Over the past week, the number of individuals arrested by the occupying forces in the West Bank has reached 206, coinciding with 40 attacks by settlers on West Bank villages. Settlers burned five cars in the village of Duma in Nablus and the village of Umm Safa in Ramallah. Others stole a water tank, raided tents, and damaged electricity and internet networks in the northern Jordan Valley in Tubas. Another group of settlers stole 13 heads of sheep in the town of Yatta in Hebron, while another group grazed their sheep on Palestinian lands in the northern Jordan Valley. Settlers, protected by the occupying forces, stormed the archaeological site of "Banat Ya'qub" on the outskirts of Tulkarm and toured its interior.

From March 11 to March 17, 2025, the number of settlement activities reached seven, with the most notable being the legalization of the settlement outpost "Edorim," built on Palestinian land in Dura, which has now been transformed into a settlement. Meanwhile, settlers established a new settlement outpost on the summit of Mount Ras Zeid, affiliated with the town of Hawara. In an effort to seize land for settlement projects, settlers bulldozed areas south of the village of Qaryut in Nablus and an additional five dunams of land north of the village of Iskaka in Salfit, adjacent to the "Nove Nehemiah" settlement outpost. They bulldozed approximately 70 dunams of land, uprooted 80 olive trees, and demolished stone walls and a well for collecting rainwater in the town of Bidya in Salfit. Moreover, the occupying forces bulldozed Palestinian land to pave a new settlement road leading to the pastoral settlement outpost. They also uprooted 40 olive trees, and settlers set up tents near the village of Raboud in Hebron.