"We strongly condemn the Zionist occupation authorities’ arrest of the preacher of the Aqsa Mosque, Sheikh Ikrema Sabri, after he delivered the Friday sermon and mourned the martyred Ismail Haniyeh at Aqsa," Hamas stated.
"The detention of Imam Ikrema 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 added.
Hamas held the Israeli occupation "fully responsible for the safety of Sheikh Ikrema" and called for his immediate release. The group also urged Arab and Muslim nations to condemn his arrest.
Earlier on Friday, Sheikh Ikrema Sabri was detained on suspicion of inciting "terrorism" after mourning Ismail Haniyeh, the recently assassinated head of the Political Bureau of Hamas, during his Friday sermon at the Aqsa Mosque.
Sabri, 85, the former grand mufti of Jerusalem and current head of its Supreme Islamic Council, referred to Haniyeh as a martyr, according to his lawyer Hamza Qatina.
"Sabri is currently in Al-Maskobiya police compound under investigation on suspicion of inciting terrorism because he mourned Ismail Haniyeh during the Friday sermon and described him as a martyr," Qatina said.
Israeli police, without naming Sabri, confirmed they had "opened an investigation into an imam suspected of making inciting statements and supporting terrorism during a sermon given on Friday."
The arrest has intensified tensions, with Hamas asserting that the action undermines religious and national leaders who defend Jerusalem's identity and the sanctity of the Aqsa Mosque. (ILKHA)