Israeli authorities detain Al-Aqsa mosque Imam over Comments on Haniyeh

Israeli police have detained the top imam at the revered Al-Aqsa compound in Jerusalem’s Old City for comments he made during a Friday sermon mourning the death of top Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.

Haniyeh was assassinated earlier in the week in Tehran in an attack that many have pinned on Israel. On Friday, Israeli police said they brought Sheikh Ekrima Sabri in for questioning after his address during midday prayers mentioned Haniyeh by name, mourning his death and asking “God Almighty to have mercy on him and to grant him a place in his spacious gardens.”

The police said they are now investigating Sabri for incitement. They said the state has previously filed an indictment against Sabri on the same charge, one of 140 indictments for incitement in the Jerusalem area — including several other imams. Throughout the war, Israel has cracked down on Palestinian free speech, rights groups say, arresting them for speech deemed by Israeli authorities to be incendiary.