News / Palestine

Israel planning to exploit COVID-19 to close al-Aqsa, says Palestinian cleric

Monday, 07 September 2020 2:59 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 07 September 2020 5:52 PM ]

Palestinian Muslims leave after performing the Friday prayer outside the Dome of the Rock, in the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, August 21, 2020. (Photo by AFP)

Sheikh Ekrima Sa’id Sabri is a former Grand Mufti of Jerusalem al-Quds who has come out in denunciation of Israeli intentions for exploiting the coronavirus crisis to close the al-Aqsa Mosque compound to Muslim worshipers.

The cleric, who is currently heading the Higher Islamic Council in Occupied Jerusalem al-Quds, warned on Monday that the Palestinian people and the Department of Islamic Endowments in al-Quds would not allow the closure to happen.

The occupation is using the pandemic as a flimsy pretext to escalate the situation at al-Aqsa, carry out its plans, take the mosque’s affairs off the hands of the Islamic Awqaf and shut it down, the preacher said.

He expressed regret that the mosque is no more a priority or has no spot on the agenda of the Arabs and Muslims, saying their “compass has deviated from Jerusalem al-Quds.”

Israeli forces raided the house of Sheikh Sabri in April.

Soldiers accompanied by intelligence officers broke into the residence in al-Suwana neighborhood.

“Israel should not be allowed to take advantage of the coronavirus pandemic and attempt to impose new restrictions on al-Aqsa Mosque,” the al-Aqsa preacher said at the time.

Israeli forces, intelligence officers, storm house of al-Aqsa Mosque preacher, report says

Israeli forces and intelligence officers have raided the house of al-Aqsa Mosque preacher and threatened him.

The mosque compound, which has remained closed for several months due to COVID-19, sits just above the Western Wall plaza and houses both the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque.

According to an agreement signed between Israel and the Jordanian government after Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem al-Quds in 1967, non-Muslim worship at the compound is prohibited. However, Israeli settlers and lawmakers frequently violate the agreement, storm the compound and observe their religious rituals there.

Last month, Sabri denounced desperate attempts by a number of Arab states to normalize diplomatic relations with Israel, warning that such measures would encourage the Tel Aviv regime to further press ahead with its criminal acts of aggression against the Palestinian nation.