The Israeli occupation forces arrested, on Friday evening, the preacher of Al-Aqsa Mosque and head of the Islamic Authority in Jerusalem, Sheikh Ikrima Sabri, hours after he delivered the Friday sermon and mourned the martyr leader Ismail Haniyeh, head of the political bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).

Sheikh Akram Sabri's lawyer, Hamza Qatina, said that the occupation forces arrested Sheikh Sabri after besieging his house in the Al-Sawana neighborhood, east of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Qatina added that the arrest of the Sheikh came during a session to discuss the decision to revoke his residency, which was issued by the Israeli Minister of Interior this afternoon.

Lawyer Qatina said that the occupation police transferred Sheikh Sabri to “Room 4 in the investigation center in the Al-Maskobiya investigation center, west of Jerusalem.”

Sheikh Sabri was subjected to a wide campaign of incitement today, Friday, following his eulogy for the martyr leader Ismail Haniyeh. The Israeli Minister of Interior also demanded that Sheikh Akram’s residency be revoked, while the Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir ordered an investigation to be opened against Sheikh Akram Sabri because of his eulogy for the martyr Ismail Haniyeh.

In an unusual step and unprecedentedly rapid procedure, the Israeli Public Prosecution agreed this afternoon to investigate Sheikh Ekrima Sabri on the grounds that his eulogy for the leader Ismail Haniyeh inside Al-Aqsa Mosque constitutes “incitement to terrorism.”

At the end of last June, the Israeli Public Prosecution officially submitted an indictment against Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, which included two clauses related to speeches the Sheikh delivered in 2022 at two mourning houses for the martyrs Uday al-Tamimi in the Shuafat camp in Jerusalem and Raad Khazem in the Jenin camp in the northern West Bank.

Sheikh Akram Sabri currently holds the position of Imam and preacher of Al-Aqsa Mosque, and head of the Supreme Islamic Council in Jerusalem. He previously held the position of Mufti of Jerusalem and the Palestinian territories.

Sheikh Sabri holds a Master’s degree in Sharia from An-Najah National University in Nablus, and a PhD in General Jurisprudence from the Faculty of Sharia and Law at Al-Azhar University.

He is the founder and president of the Association of Scholars and Preachers in Palestine, the president of the Supreme Fatwa Council in Palestine, and the president of the Supreme Islamic Authority in Jerusalem. He also has dozens of publications, books, and fatwas.