Muslims unable to freely offer prayers under Israeli occupation, says Al-Aqsa Imam

By Anadolu staff

JERUSALEM (AA) – Al-Aqsa Mosque Iman or prayer leader Sheikh Ekrima Sabri said on Saturday that Muslims are unable to freely offer prayers under Israeli occupation.

Sabri was released by Israeli authorities on Friday after being detained for several hours and ordered to be deported from the mosque.

Earlier on Friday, he was arrested by the Israeli police for mourning and eulogizing slain Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh.

“Muslims are unable to freely offer prayers under the Israeli occupation, and people are subjected to arbitrary pressures regarding the expression of their opinions,” Sheikh Sabri told Anadolu.

Sheikh Sabri said he informed Israeli authorities that he has not broken the law and that the slogans raised by Muslim faithful were simply expressions of their religious sentiment.

He revealed that the Israeli police has decided to prohibit him from entering the Al-Aqsa Mosque for one week, with the possibility of extending the ban for up to six months.

Earlier, his lawyer Khaled Zabarka told Anadolu on Friday that the Israeli authorities released Sheikh Ekrima and ordered his deportation from the mosque until Aug. 8, with a possibility to extend his deportation for six months.

Haniyeh was assassinated on Wednesday in Tehran, Iran’s capital. While Hamas and Iran blamed Israel for the killing, Tel Aviv has not confirmed or denied its responsibility.

Following the Friday prayer at Al-Aqsa Mosque, Sabri led a funeral prayer in absentia for Haniyeh.

"The people of Jerusalem and the environs of Jerusalem from the pulpit of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque mourn the martyr Ismail Haniyeh," he said while giving a sermon.

The 85-year-old preacher had previously been detained by Israeli forces and was barred from entering the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem for months.

Sabri is a staunch critic of the decades-long Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories. He had previously held the position of mufti of Jerusalem and the Palestinian territories from 1994 to 2006.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala in Istanbul