JERUSALEM: A senior religious figure was detained on suspicion of inciting “terrorism” on Friday after he mourned slain Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh at Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa Mosque, his lawyer said.

Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, 85, the former grand mufti of Jerusalem and current head of its Supreme Islamic Council, called Haniyeh a martyr in his sermon at the mosque in Israeli-annexed east Jeru­salem, the lawyer said.

“(Sabri) is currently in Al-Maskobiya (police compound) under investigation on suspicion of inciting terrorism, because he mourned Ismail Haniyeh during the Friday sermon and described him as a martyr,” his lawyer Hamza Qatina said.

Israeli police, without naming Sabri, said they had “opened an investigation into an imam suspected of making inciting statements and supporting terrorism during a sermon given (on Friday)”.

Sabri was charged with inciting terrorism in June for allegedly praising Palestinians who killed four Israelis, including a soldier, in October 2022.

At the time, he denounced a “fabricated” campaign against him.

A man in his twenties was also arrested for making “inciting statements” during Friday prayers, the Israeli police statement added.

Published in Dawn, August 3rd, 2024