Israeli occupation forces banished on Sunday, September 11, the deputy director of Muslim Endowments and Al-Aqsa Affairs Najih Bkeirat from Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Earlier Sunday, Israeli occupation forces summoned Najeh Bkirat for interrogation in the Al-Qishla center in the old city of Jerusalem, banning him from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque for 6 months.

Commenting on his summons for investigation, Bkirat said that this expulsion comes in the context of decades-old Israeli persecution and harassment against Palestinians in Jerusalem.

He added that the Israeli occupation aims to empty the Al-Aqsa Mosque of Islamic leaders and erase the Palestinian and Islamic existence in Jerusalem.

Bkirat affirmed his rejection of the unjust measures practiced by the occupation to restrict the Palestinians, adding that it is not the first time he’s been summoned or banished by Israel.

Najeh Bkirat has been detained about 34 times since 1981. Israeli occupation authorities banished him from Al-Aqsa 26 times for periods ranging from one week to six months. In addition, the Israeli occupation denied him travel several times.