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‘Free Al-Aqsa Mosque’ – Sheikh arrested for incitement

Islamic leader linked to pan-Muslim terror group calls for his followers to engage in terror, urges Egypt to send military to “free” Al-Aqsa Mosque.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

A Jerusalem-based Islamic leader was arrested by Israeli security forces and formally indicted on charges of incitement after calling for Palestinians to engage in terrorism during a fiery sermon on the Temple Mount, Israel’s State Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement on Monday.

Sheikh Esmat Hamouri, 56, addressed a crowd waving green Hamas flags and chanting anti-Israel slogans on the Temple Mount about two weeks ago.

During his speech, he encouraged his followers to “free” Al-Aqsa Mosque by any means necessary.

“We tell our brothers in Gaza and Palestine and everywhere the words of Allah — do not trust those who grasped hell, and whoever wants to free the al-Aqsa mosque will not succeed without weapons and power and the unity of Muslim countries,” the indictment quoted Hamouri as saying.

“There is no alternative but to unify the Islamic countries and [to] determinedly free al-Aqsa mosque. This is not impossible for Allah. The good began at al-Aqsa and the good will return to al-Aqsa.”

Members of the crowd filmed Hamouri’s speech, and clips of his remarks swiftly went viral on TikTok.

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In mid-April, a video of Hamouri calling for Egypt to send its military to “liberate” Al-Aqsa Mosque was widely shared throughout the Arab world.

“We say to the Egyptian forces, [Islamic hero] Salah a-Din went out from your land to Palestine, and defeated the Crusaders. He taught them lessons that made them forget Satan’s whispers,” Hamouri is heard saying.

He then references other “invaders of Palestine” who were “annihilated” by the Egyptians

It is unclear if the charges Hamouri is currently facing are also related to that speech.

Hamouri is reportedly a member of the Hizb ut Tahrir terror group, which states its goals are to re-establish an Islamic caliphate and implement global Sharia Law.

Due to its Islamic extremist ideology and promotion of terror, Hizb ut Tahrir has been banned by Germany, Indonesia, and all Arab countries, save for the UAE, Yemen and Lebanon, where it is headquartered.