Israel arrests top Waqf officials over Al-Aqsa protests

JERUSALEM (AA) - Israeli forces arrested two Palestinian religious figures from their homes following recent protests in East Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque, according to a Palestinian NGO.

Sheikh Abdul Azim Salhab, the head of the Muslim Waqf (Endowment) Council in Jerusalem, and Sheikh Najeh Bkerat, the deputy director of Muslim Endowments and Al-Aqsa Affairs, were arrested in raids on their homes, the Palestinian Prisoners Society said in a statement.

Their lawyer Mohammad Mahmoud confirmed the arrests, saying Israeli police have handed the two religious figures a court order banning them from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque for seven days.

Sunday's arrests came in the wake of Palestinian protests against Israel's closure of Al-Aqsa Mosque's Rahma Gate on the eastern wall of Jerusalem’s Old City.

The Islamic Endowments Authority, a Jordan-run entity mandated with overseeing East Jerusalem’s Muslim and Christian holy sites, has lodged repeated requests with the Israeli authorities for the gate to be permanently reopened.

On Friday, Israeli police arrested dozens of Palestinians in East Jerusalem in hope of preempting protests against the Israeli closure of the gate.

The Al-Rahma Gate was first closed by the Israeli authorities in 2003. An Israeli court renewed the closure order in 2017.

For Muslims, the Al-Aqsa represents the world's third holiest site. Jews, for their part, refer to the area as the "Temple Mount", claiming it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, in which the Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. It annexed the entire city in 1980 in a move never recognized by the international community.