Israeli authorities extend ban against chief guard of Al-Aqsa

Israeli occupation authorities renewed on Wednesday a six-month ban against Sheikh Najeh Bkeerat, the chief guard of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Sheikh Bkeerat said that the Israeli police summoned him to an investigation centre, questioned him for several hours and then handed him a note signed by the Israeli forces chief of staff in the Southern District. The note ordered him not to attend his work.

It is the ninth time that occupation authorities have banned Sheikh Bkeerat from doing his work inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The latest ban starts from Wednesday and ends on 9 March 2014.

Sheikh Bkeerat criticised this order and called it “unfair”. He noted that he has been banned from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque, thus can neither pray nor do his work, while Israeli settlers are being allowed to enter the Mosque and perform Talmudic rituals.

Sheikh Bkeerat said that this order is in line with Israeli efforts to distance Palestinian activists and leaders from the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Last week, Israeli forces detained Sheikh Raed Salah while he was heading to the Al-Aqsa Mosque. They questioned him for several hours and only released him after issuing an order that banned him from entering the city of Jerusalem for six months.