On Sunday, the Israeli police handed over the preacher of Al-Aqsa Mosque and the head of the Supreme Islamic Authority Ikrima Sabri a decision to remove him from the mosque for a week on charges of "incitement."
"The police came to my house in the morning and handed me a call for an interview, so I went," Sabri told AFP.
According to Sabri, "the investigation focused on the charge of incitement."
Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld confirmed that the police summoned Sabri "regarding recent incidents on the Temple Mount."
The preacher of Al-Aqsa Mosque said that the investigator charged him at the “Al-Qishleh” investigation center in the Old City in occupied East Jerusalem with the charge of “exposing citizens to danger”, which Sabri rejected and considered it “null”.
Sabri said that the decision aims to "spread terror among the citizens so that they do not reach the mosque nor defend it."
He believes that one of the reasons behind the investigation and deportation revolves around the file of the Gate of Mercy building located inside the courtyards of the sanctuary.
And an Israeli court had ordered last March to close the building, after weeks of tension between the Israeli authorities and the Islamic Endowments Department regarding this file.
The General Director of the Jerusalem Endowments and Affairs of Al-Aqsa Mosque Sheikh Azzam Al-Khatib confirmed to France Press at the time that "the Israeli courts have no authority over the Al-Aqsa Mosque."
"They felt angry because the door of mercy was opened and they were unable to close it," Sabri said.
And the preacher of the mosque was handed another summons to investigate next Saturday.