The ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, which purports to end the Iron Swords War (now officially known by Israel as the War of Revival), enables the deepening of two countries' penetration into Jerusalem and its affairs: Turkey and Qatar, both of which are not Israel's friends. The two of them have long been involved in Jerusalem activities. Turkey has been active in the Israeli capital for years, via official Turkish bodies such as the General Consulate (which serves as the "Turkish Embassy to Palestine") and the openly-active Yunis Amra Cultural Center. Turkey also operates organizations that work below the radar, such as the presidential aid agency Tika, with its various projects.

Qatari foundation evades restrictions, operating in Jerusalem disguised as old city housing assistance. A Qatari foundation named the Aisha Fund is apparently operating in Jerusalem these days, including transferring money to the Gaza Strip. There are indications that the Fund has acquired, either by rent of purchase, housing units near an orphanage/school in the Old City, and then rents them out for a subsidized price to local residents.

Despite the law: UNRWA school continues operating in Jerusalem's Qalandiya village. Despite the fact that the law forbidding UNRWA activity in Israel, and especially in Jerusalem, has been in effect for practically a year, a UNRWA school appears to be still functional in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Kafr Akeb. A UNRWA flag flies proudly above it, as can be seen just over the security barrier.

Three wounded during illigal crossing attempt: There was a number of shooting this past week, directed by Israeli police and/or security forces at Arab men attempting to illegally cross

Online tutorials show: how to cross the separation barrier in Jerusalem. More on last week's murderous terrorist attack at the Ramot Intersection, perpetrated by Illegal alien Palestinian terrorists who Infiltrated Jerusalem from PA territory via uncontrolled and unguarded gaps in the separation barrier.

Funding crisis: PA-Affiliated schools to switch to three school days a week. As the new school year starts, Jerusale, schools identified with the Palestinian Authority have announced that they will oparate only three days a week. The pupils will learn at home on the other days. The reason, they say, is money: the schools claim they can't even pay full salaries on time to their teachers. This protest move is a carbon copy of similar moves in PA-controlled areas in Judea and Sameria. Once again we note two predominant phenomena concerning schools in eastern Jerusalem: one is that they are totally dependent on and identified with the Palestinian Authority, and the other is that the ties between Jerusalem employees and the workers' unions in the PA are tightly connected to the point that they enact uniforms policies.

​Why did Bishara Bahbah resign last week from his leading position on the U.S negotiating team VIS-A-VIS Hamas? The answer appears to be his differences with mediator Steve Witkoff regarding the Hamas negotiating stance. These differences follow a long period of lack of coordination between Bahbah and the U.S Administration. For instance, regarding the establishment of Palestinian state: Bahbah claimed that Trump supports the idea, while the American negotiators' position is the opposite.

​Starving in Gaza - celebrating in Jerusalem. Protests and online activity against the Jerusalem food festival. The Arab public is up in arms at the reports, vehemently negated by Israel, of famine in Gaza. Simultaneously with public protests held in Arab towns in Judea and Sameria, there was also a protest by youth enwrapped in PLO flags in the Jerusalem village of Kfar Akeb. UNRWA - an outlawed organization in Israel because of members' ties with terrorists - has reported that Gaza is undergoing a "worst case scenario" famine. As a result, the Al-Busawla features a protest against a food festival organized by the Jerusalem Municipality in Armon HaNatziv precisely while, according to the site, Isreal is "forcing" a famine on the Gazan population.

A recently-opened Moroccan institution in the Old City under the auspices of King Mohammed VI - show that is actually not just "Moroccan". At the most recent Arab League convention, held in Cairo, the participating foreign ministers praised Moroccan for playing an important role in Jerusalem in terms of the Palestinians.

Islamists souht to fire up the Arab street during the period of the Eid Al-Fadha holiday last week, disseminating incitment-filled videos on social media.

A recently-opened Moroccan institution in the Old City under the auspices of King Mohammed VI - show that is actually not just "Moroccan". At the most recent Arab League convention, held in Cairo, the participating foreign ministers praised Moroccan for playing an important role in Jerusalem in terms of the Palestinians.

​PA Chairman Abu Mazen annouced the forced retirement of thousands of officers of the PA security forces - i.e, Fatah - many of whom are terrorists and other prisoners released from Israeli prisons.

Widespread calls have been heard again this year for Jerusalem Muslims to oppose such attempts of Jewish "Temple Mount" organizations. On one of the pictures disseminated on social media appears the following captions: "Settlers launch calls to offer sacrifices in Al-Aqsa".

Najah Bakhirat, the deputy chief of the Jordanian WAQF in Jerusalem who was expelled from the city in JUNE 2023, is back. During the month of Ramadan, Bakhirat, who has ties with Hamas, was photographed sitting outside a Jerusalem mosque during prayers. One of the wealthier residents of the eastern Jerusalem neighborhood of Sur Baher, he and his family own several buildings and properties there.

The annual Islamic custom of Itikaf continues to be in the news this week. The custom requires Muslims to remain in a mosque, particularly atop the Temple Mount, for a full night or more during Ramadan.

UNRWA is outlawed in Israel, but has it stopped working? It does not seem so. According to various reports, the offices and schools in Jerusalem continue to operate as they did before, exept that some UNRWA sings have been removed or replaced. The schools are open, and the pupils are at their dasks. In the wake of reports that the schools were closed down, the principals received instructions from the PA's education authority in Ramallah not to deny the reports in the media, but simply continue working as uausal beneath the media radar.

Social media have resumed circulating in recent days the "incitement video" of the Islamist preacher from Sur Baher (eastern Jerusalem), Assam Amira. He is the leader of the Jerusalem branch of Hizb a-Tahrir - an international Islamist fundamentalist organization that aims to re- establish the Islamic caliphate. The recirculation of the video is apparently a response to his recent sentencing to nearly three years in prison, after he was found guilty of incitement.

It was reported this week that some Arab bus lines in eastern Jerusalem were "striking." The drivers and/or their bosses are apparently protesting the stricter policies that have been put into effect at the security-barrier crossings, between the neighborhoods "behind" the barrier and the rest of the city. Many workers – not only drivers, but also sanitation employees and others – have complained of increased waiting times, even up to three hours, at the crossings. 2.Tik-Tok videos have been disseminated encouraging workers not to come to work, in protest. Some of the videos feature one or more spokesmen for the "Committees" – which is actually one local neighborhood committee that represents the residents vis-à-vis the city authorities. The "Committees" often refer to official PA or Fatah committees that are officially active in the city. 3.We have reported here on the economic downturn in the Old City of recent months. One reason that businesses have been harmed is, to a certain extent, that many employees provide their employers with incorrect residential addresses, particularly in the Old City and surrounding areas. They do this in order to avoid harming their chances of being hired, if employers find out that the applicants live behind the security barrier. The employers are apparently wary of precisely the delays mentioned above, which occur when security dangers increase, leading to longer delays at the crossings.

The Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) – an official Turkish aid organization with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood – has not only been active in Jerusalem these past two years, despite the subversive nature of its work, but is also active in Gaza. In addition to activating other forces in the area, it has built a hospital in Gaza City, which was actually vacant for several years because of an apparent dispute with Hamas. TIKA's main office here is in Ramallah, from where it runs its Jerusalem activities some 20 kilometers to the south.- an international Islamist fundamentalist organization that aims to re- establish the Islamic caliphate. The recirculation of the video is apparently a response to his recent sentencing to nearly three years in prison, after he was found guilty of incitement.

The Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) – an official Turkish aid organization with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood – has not only been active in Jerusalem these past two years, despite the subversive nature of its work, but is also active in Gaza. In addition to activating other forces in the area, it has built a hospital in Gaza City, which was actually vacant for several years because of an apparent dispute with Hamas. TIKA's main office here is in Ramallah, from where it runs its Jerusalem activities some 20 kilometers to the south.

As is known, various bodies, such as the Palestinian Authority and Islamist extremists, pressured churches to "tone down" their commemorations of the Christian holidays in Jerusalem and in Bethlehem. At the same time, in a non-unrelated development, the Arab shopkeepers of the Old City continue to suffer from the severe decline in visitors and customers to their stores. This is all the more true for storekeepers dependent on tourists, both internal and from abroad. Not only has the war kept many tourists away, but there has been an ongoing and increasingly prevalent phenomenon by which Arab Jerusalem residents stay away from the shops of the Old City in general. Younger residents do not frequent these stores, which they view as outdated and old-fashioned, and choose to shop in modern stores and malls – and not only in the Arab sections. As far as the older residents are concerned, their consumer power is becoming increasingly irrelevant…