Israel police ban Al-Aqsa Mosque imam for 4 months

Sheikh Ekrima Sabri (C), the grand mufti of Jerusalem, manages to enter the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque, despite an earlier Israeli ban, in Jerusalem on 24 January 2020. [Mostafa Alkharouf – Anadolu Agency]

Israeli occupation police interrogated Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, Imam of Al-Aqsa Mosque, for at least four hours, Anadolu reported yesterday.

Prior to the interrogation, Sheikh Sabri said: “I have been praying at Al-Aqsa Mosque for 70 years and have been giving sermons for 47 years. It is not acceptable that I am prevented from entering it.”

Sheikh Sabri is the head of the Islamic Supreme Commission (NGO) in Jerusalem.

READ: Jordan slams Israel over aggression at Al-Aqsa Mosque

Scores of Palestinians protested in front of the police station in Jerusalem while he was being interrogated.

On Saturday, Israeli police banned the Sheikh from entering the mosque for four months and summoned him for interrogation yesterday.

Last week, the Israeli occupation police handed him a one-week ban but he defied it and performed Friday prayer at the holy site.

Israeli police have expelled Sheikh Sabri on numerous occasions and banned him from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque.

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