Al-Aqsa mosque Imam arrested for calling Ismail Haniyeh a 'martyr'

Imam of Al-Aqsa mosque, Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, was arrested by Israeli forces after he paid tribute to slain Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh during Friday sermon, AFP reported on Saturday.

According to the foreign publication, the former grand mufti of Jerusalem was detained for calling Haniyeh a 'martyr' in his sermon at Muslim's first Qibla.

"(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 told AFP.

Israeli police also confirmed the arrest, saying they had "opened an investigation into an imam suspected of making inciting statements and supporting terrorism during a sermon given on Friday".

Israel's intelligence arrested Sheikh Ikrima Sabri, Imam of the Al Aqsa Mosque in a raid on his home after he prayed for Ismail Haniyeh during todays Friday sermon pic.twitter.com/tS5g1m9qV5

— Sulaiman Ahmed (@ShaykhSulaiman) August 2, 2024

On the other hand, several social media accounts claimed that he was released after an interrogation. However, no official statement was issued in this regard.

The 62-year-old Palestinian leader was killed in a missile attack on his residence in Tehran in the early hours of Wednesday (july 31), along with one of his bodyguards.

The Revolutionary Guards stated that the cause of the attack is under investigation and will be announced soon.

Haniyeh was in Tehran to attend the swearing-in ceremony of newly-elected Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday.

A day earlier, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei led the funeral prayer of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, which was attended by thousands of men and women. 

Later, his body was transported to Qatar, where his second funeral prayer was offered at Imam Muhammad Bin Abdul Wahab Mosque in Doha on August 2 after Friday prayers.

Haniyeh's family bid their final farewell to him at Lusail Cemetery, where he was laid to rest.