Israel bans Muslim cleric from Al-Aqsa Mosque over sermon ‘which contained nothing inappropriate'

News24

5 days ago

Israel banned grand mufti of Jerusalem Muhammad Ahmad Hussein from entering the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
Hussein's lawyer said that the ban was due to a Friday sermon the mufti gave at Al-Aqsa.
Slovenia announced a ban on imports of goods from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
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 told AFP on Wednesday.
Muhammad Ahmad Hussein, the grand mufti of Jerusalem, will be prevented from entering the holy site in the Israeli-annexed Old City until January 2026, according to lawyer Khaldoun Najem.
Najem said Israeli police 'did not interrogate' or held a hearing for the mufti prior to their decision.
Contacted by AFP, police did not immediately comment.
Hussein's lawyer said that the ban was due to a Friday sermon the mufti gave at Al-Aqsa - Islam's third-holiest site and a Palestinian national symbol - in late July, 'which contained nothing inappropriate'.
READ | Despite army chief warnings of 'walking into a trap', Israel military ready to take over Gaza
Palestinian news agency Wafa said the sermon had focused on deteriorating conditions in Gaza and growing starvation in the territory, where Israel's nearly two-year war against Hamas has led to a dire humanitarian crisis.
Israel had already issued an eight-day ban against Hussein following that sermon, Wafa said.
The Al-Aqsa compound is Judaism's holiest site, known to Jews as the Temple Mount.
Israel occupied and annexed east Jerusalem and including the Old City in 1967.
Much of the international community does not recognise Israel's annexation of the area.
Earlier this month, Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir publicly conducted a Jewish prayer on the grounds of the Al-Aqsa compound - a highly contentious move that violates a long-held understanding at the site.
The compound has long served as a flashpoint in tensions between Israelis and Palestinians and frequently been the spark for larger unrest.
Slovenia on Wednesday announced a ban on imports of goods from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, in a 'symbolic measure' designed to ratchet up diplomatic pressure over the war in Gaza.
Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu via Getty Images
Slovenia's government has frequently criticised Israel over the conflict, and in 2024 moved to recognise a Palestinian state as part of efforts to end the fighting in Gaza as soon as possible.
'The actions of the Israeli government... constitute serious and repeated violations of international humanitarian law,' the government said in a statement on Wednesday.
Slovenia 'cannot and must not be part of a chain that enables or overlooks' such violations it said includes the 'construction of illegal settlements, expropriations, the forced evictions of the Palestinian population'.
The Slovenian government thus decided to 'ban imports of goods originating from Israeli illegal settlements'.
Its latest move represents a 'clear reaction to the Israeli government's policy, which... undermines the possibilities for lasting peace and a two-state solution'.
'While symbolic', the ban 'is a necessary response to the ongoing humanitarian and security situation in Gaza', Slovenia's Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon said of the measure.
The government said it was also examining a ban on exports of goods from Slovenia 'destined for (the) illegal settlements', saying that it would then 'decide on further measures'.