JERUSALEM, 27-2-2026 (WAFA) – Israeli occupation forces detained Sheikh Rani Abu Sbeih on Friday evening at the gates of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem.
The Jerusalem Governorate reported that the occupation forces detained Sheikh Abu Sbeih at one of the mosque’s gates and took him to an interrogation center in the Bab al-Khalil area of occupied Jerusalem.
Since the morning, the city of occupied Jerusalem has witnessed an unprecedented escalation in Israeli occupation measures, coinciding with the second Friday of the holy month of Ramadan. Israeli forces intensified their presence around Al-Aqsa Mosque, deploying metal barriers at its main entrances and throughout the streets of the Old City.
The Jerusalem Governorate stated in a statement that the occupation forces tightened restrictions on visitors from the West Bank through the Qalandia checkpoint in the north and Bethlehem in the south, preventing hundreds, particularly the elderly, from entering. Despite these restrictions, approximately 100,000 worshippers performed Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The governorate added that the occupation continued to target Al-Aqsa worshippers, issuing over 280 banning orders from the mosque. Those expelled were forced to perform Friday prayers in the Bab al-Rahma Cemetery adjacent to the mosque, where the occupation forces reportedly trampled graves and erected tents.
The occupation forces also continued to detain citizens from within the mosque courtyards, especially during the evening and the Ramadan Taraweeh prayers, holding several young men for field inspections, while enforcing measures that prevent the delivery of Iftar and Suhoor meals, disrupt the operation of the medical clinic, and prohibit the erection of canopies for worshippers.
The Governorate stated that these measures also target journalists in occupied Jerusalem, through detentions, summonses, interrogations, and restrictions on press freedom, including expulsion from Al-Aqsa Mosque and the prevention of field coverage of violations, in a clear attempt to conceal the reality of these restrictions from public view.
The statement emphasized that these policies coincide with measures aimed at altering the historical and legal status of Al-Aqsa Mosque by imposing police control over its internal administration and undermining the role of the Islamic Waqf Directorate, constituting a direct assault on both religious freedom and the legal standing of Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem.
The Jerusalem Governorate affirmed that Al-Aqsa Mosque is an exclusive right of Muslims and rejects any interference with the Waqf Directorate or religious freedom, holding the occupation authorities fully responsible for the consequences of this escalation, and calling on the international community to assume its legal and moral responsibilities regarding the situation in occupied Jerusalem.
T.R.
