Hamas condemns Zionist arrest of Sheikh Ekrima Sabri

GAZA, Aug. 03 (YPA) – The Hamas Movement condemned on Friday the arrest of Aqsa Mosque preacher Sheikh Ekrema Sabri, saying that it is a “blatant attack on the Aqsa Mosque.”

“We strongly condemn the Zionist occupation authorities’ arrest of the preacher of the Aqsa Mosque, Sheikh Ekrema Sabri, after he delivered the Friday sermon and mourned the martyred Ismail Haniyeh at Aqsa.”

“The detention of Imam Ekrema and interrogating him is a direct aggression against our spiritual figures to sideline influential religious and national leaders defending Jerusalem’s identity and the Aqsa Mosque,” the Movement said in a statement.

Hamas held the Israeli occupation “fully responsible for the safety of Sheikh Ekrema.”

Hamas also called for the immediate release of Sabri and urged Arab and Muslim nations to condemn his arrest.

Earlier Friday, Sheikh Ekrema Sabri was detained on suspicion of inciting “terrorism” after he mourned the martyr Ismail Haniyeh during his Friday sermon at the Aqsa Mosque.

Sabri, 85, the former grand mufti of Jerusalem and current head of its Supreme Islamic Council, called Ismail Haniyeh a martyr at the Aqsa Mosque in Occupied Jerusalem, his lawyer Hamza Qatina said.

@E.Y.M