Israeli Police Block Sheikh Ekrima Sabri From Entering Al-Aqsa Mosque To Lead Prayers

Israeli police prevented Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, described as the imam and preacher of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, from entering the mosque to lead Friday prayers, according to Al-Jazeera Net.

“Israeli police today prevented the imam of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, from entering the mosque to lead Friday prayers, without giving any reasons”

Al-Jazeera Net

The report says an official at Sheikh Sabri's office told Anadolu Agency that "the Israeli police blocked his entry via the Bab al-Asbat Gate and prevented him from reaching the mosque despite his attempt to pray."

Al-Jazeera Net

It adds that Sabri's office stated in a press release that "occupation forces blocked his entry via Bab al-Asbat Gate shortly before the prayer, while the defense team accompanying him confirmed that the ban was issued without a legal decision."

The Higher Islamic Council in Jerusalem condemned the decision as "an illegal police rampage," and said in a press release that the Israeli police "have no sovereignty over the Al-Aqsa Mosque."

The council stressed that sovereignty over the Al-Aqsa Mosque belongs to the Islamic administration, deeming these decisions "null and void" and carried out "under martial rule" that has turned the city into a "military garrison."

Al-Jazeera Net also says the ban came after about two years of restricting Sabri's access and imposing administrative decisions and strict restrictions, and that Israel had issued many decisions preventing his entry, restricting his travel, and arresting him many times for questioning.

The immediate episode was framed by the council as part of a broader pattern of tightening restrictions on worshippers and preventing their access to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, while also restricting the work of the Islamic Endowment Administration.

As Ramadan approached, a separate report in Association France Palestine Solidarité described how a “six-decade-old framework” governing Muslim and Jewish prayers at Jerusalem’s sacred site had “collapsed” under pressure from Jewish extremists backed by the Israeli government.

The article says a string of arrests of Muslim custodians, access bans for hundreds of Muslims, and an escalation of incursions by radical Jewish groups culminated this week with the arrest of an imam at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and a raid by Israeli police during the evening prayers, the first night of Ramadan.

Association France Palestine Solidarité

It characterizes the actions by Jerusalem police and Shin Bet interior security forces—both described as now under the leadership of the far right—as a rupture with the post-1967 war status quo, which it says stipulates that only Muslims are allowed to pray in the sacred enclosure around the mosque.

The report quotes Jerusalem lawyer Daniel Seidemann saying, "Al-Aqsa is a trigger," and adds his explanation that "It is usually the same thing: a real or perceived threat to the integrity of a sacred space."

Seidemann is quoted warning that "The West Bank is a tinderbox," and the article links the current moment to past escalations, including a visit by former Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon in 2000 that it says triggered the Second Palestinian Intifada.

The Association France Palestine Solidarité piece also connects the site’s volatility to Hamas, saying Hamas gave the name 'Al-Aqsa Flood' to its October 2023 attack on Israel, which it says killed 1,200 Israelis and triggered the Gaza War.

It further states that National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said he wanted to hoist the Israeli flag inside the enclosure and build a synagogue there, and it describes Ben-Gvir as having been convicted eight times before taking office.

Another strand of the reporting focused on Sheikh Mohammed al-Abbasi, one of the leading imams of East Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque, who told AFP that Israeli authorities refused him entry to the site days before Ramadan.

“One of the leading imams of East Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque announced this Tuesday, February 17, that Israeli authorities had refused him entry to the site, just days before the start of Ramadan”

BFM

BFM said al-Abbasi announced on Tuesday, February 17, that he had been barred from entering the mosque for a week and that the ban could be renewed, adding that no explanation had been given.

The report quotes him saying, "I was barred from entering the mosque for a week, and this ban could be renewed," and it also includes his statement that he returned to Al-Aqsa "a month ago after spending a year in the hospital following a serious car accident."

BFM adds that al-Abbasi said, "This ban is a serious matter for us, because our soul is tied to Al-Aqsa. Al-Aqsa is our life," and it places the episode within a broader context of restrictions on worshippers at the Temple Mount Esplanade.

The report states that the site is located in East Jerusalem, the part of the city occupied and annexed by Israel in 1967, and it says Jordan administers the Muslim holy site while Israel imposes restrictions, including on the number of worshippers who can access it or their age.

BFM also reports that Israeli police had announced the day before that they had recommended a cap of 10,000 permissions issued for Palestinians from the occupied West Bank, who cannot reach Jerusalem without a permit.

It says the Jerusalem Governorate, a Palestinian administrative entity with only a very limited role in the city, said it had been informed that permits would be issued only to men over 55 and women over 50, as was the case in 2025.

Across the three reports, the same Al-Aqsa access restrictions and arrests are framed through sharply different lenses, with each outlet emphasizing different actors and legal or political implications.

Al-Jazeera Net centers the Higher Islamic Council in Jerusalem’s condemnation, quoting the council’s claim that Israeli police have "no sovereignty over the Al-Aqsa Mosque" and that the ban was issued without any legitimacy, while describing the situation as "under martial rule" and a "military garrison."

Al-Jazeera Net

Association France Palestine Solidarité, by contrast, frames the developments as the collapse of a "six-decade-old" prayer arrangement, arguing that the status quo has ruptured due to actions by Jerusalem police and Shin Bet, and it quotes Daniel Seidemann’s warning that "The status quo collapsed because there are daily prayers."

BFM focuses on the personal impact on Sheikh Mohammed al-Abbasi and on the administrative mechanics of access, quoting him saying "Al-Aqsa is our life" and reporting Israeli police’s recommended cap of "10,000 permissions" for Palestinians from the occupied West Bank.

The Association France Palestine Solidarité piece also links the Jerusalem flashpoints to the Gaza War by quoting the name 'Al-Aqsa Flood' for Hamas’s October 2023 attack, which it says killed 1,200 Israelis and triggered the Gaza War, while Al-Jazeera Net does not make that linkage in its account of Sabri’s Friday-prayer ban.

In Al-Jazeera Net, the Higher Islamic Council says the police ban was issued "without a legal decision" and calls it an "illegal police rampage," while Association France Palestine Solidarité describes the broader pattern as a rupture with post-1967 rules and highlights unilateral changes like printed prayer sheets authorized with the declared support of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

BFM does not discuss the legal arguments about sovereignty, but it does situate the restrictions within the status quo dating from 1967 and within Israel’s control over the number and age of worshippers.

The reports portray Ramadan as a period in which access restrictions and raids at Al-Aqsa could intensify tensions, with multiple actors describing the situation as unusually sensitive.

“Photo: Despite Israel's massive restrictions, tens of thousands of Palestinians are praying at the Al-Aqsa Mosque for the first Friday of Ramadan, February 20, 2026 © Quds News Network”

Association France Palestine Solidarité

Association France Palestine Solidarité says the actions by Jerusalem police and Shin Bet represent a rupture with the post-1967 war status quo and quotes Daniel Seidemann warning that "There have been frequent provocations during Ramadan, but the situation is now exponentially more sensitive."

Association France Palestine Solidarité

It adds that Seidemann characterizes the West Bank as "a tinderbox," and it describes how changes to the status quo have historically shown their potential to trigger unrest and conflict in Jerusalem and the occupied Palestinian territories, with repercussions worldwide.

The same report says the Waqf, the Jordan-appointed foundation charged with managing the Al-Aqsa site under the status quo agreement, has come under increasing pressure, stating that according to Waqf sources, five of its employees were placed in administrative detention this week by Shin Bet and 38 others were barred from access to the site.

It also says six mosque imams were denied entry, and it reports that six Waqf offices had been looted in recent weeks and staff were prevented from replacing doors or carrying out other repairs, while the Waqf was prevented from installing sun and rain shelters or temporary clinics for worshipers.

The report further states that officials say they have even been prevented from bringing toilet paper onto the site, and it says this has cumulatively strained the Waqf's capacity to host the 10,000 Muslims expected to come to pray at Al-Aqsa during Ramadan.

BFM, meanwhile, reports that hundreds of thousands of Palestinian worshippers are expected on the Temple Mount Esplanade during Ramadan and that Israeli police recommended a cap of 10,000 permissions for Palestinians from the occupied West Bank.