Police have banned Jerusalem’s top Muslim cleric from entering the Temple Mount compound for six months over a recent sermon, according to his attorney.

Muhammad Ahmad Hussein, the grand mufti of Jerusalem, will be prevented from entering the holy site, known to Muslims as the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, until January 2026, lawyer Khaldoun Najem told AFP.

He was barred over a Friday sermon he gave at Al-Aqsa in late July, which Najem contended “contained nothing inappropriate.”

The Palestinian Authority’s official news agency WAFA said the sermon had focused on deteriorating conditions in Gaza and featured claims that Israel is pursuing a policy of starvation in the war-torn territory amid the ongoing war, sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023, massacre.

Police had already issued an eight-day ban against Hussein following that sermon, according to the outlet.

Najem said police “did not interrogate” or hold a hearing for the mufti prior to the decision.

Police did not respond to a request for comment by The Times of Israel.

The Temple Mount is Judaism’s holiest site, and its Al-Aqsa Mosque is Islam’s third-holiest site and a frequent rallying point for Palestinian nationalists, making it a frequent flashpoint for tensions between Israelis and Palestinians.

Earlier this month, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir led morning prayers on the Temple Mount during the Jewish fast day of Tisha B’Av—a contentious move that violated a long-standing, vague status quo governing the site, which is administered by a Jordanian religious trust, with the Israel Police in charge of security.

A growing number of right-wing Israeli Jews have been protesting the ban on Jewish prayer, viewing it as religious discrimination and urging the government to permit it and allow Jews greater access. While Muslims can enter the site at all hours of the week, Jews and tourists can do so only for several hours on weekdays, with overtly religious Jews being taken on a predetermined route while closely supervised by police.

While Ben Gvir has repeatedly visited the site and declared that it is his policy to permit Jewish prayer, and while police have increasingly tolerated Jewish prayer there under his watch, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted that Israel doesn’t seek to change the status quo.

Changes to the Temple Mount’s status quo evoke strong emotions and are frequently cited as a motivation for Palestinian terror attacks. The site is of central importance to Hamas, which termed its October 7 massacre “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.” Jordan has threatened in the past to nix its peace treaty with Israel if the status quo is changed.