Israeli authorities have banned Jerusalem’s top Muslim cleric from entering the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound for six months over a recent sermon, his attorney tells AFP.
Police did not respond to a request for comment from The Times of Israel, and there was no other public confirmation of the move.
Muhammad Ahmad Hussein, the grand mufti of Jerusalem, will be prevented from entering the holy site in Jerusalem’s Old City until January 2026, according to his lawyer, Khaldoun Najem.
Najem claims that Israeli police “did not interrogate” or hold a hearing for the mufti prior to their decision.
Hussein’s lawyer asserts that the ban was due to a Friday sermon the mufti gave at Al-Aqsa in late July, “which contained nothing inappropriate.”
The Palestinian news agency Wafa says the sermon had focused on deteriorating conditions in Gaza and growing starvation in the territory.
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