Palestinian sources said that the Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak extended a ban on Sheikh Ikremah Sabri, the head of the Islamic Higher Committee in Jerusalem.

The move came in response to MK Ibrahim Sarsour who had requested that Barak reconsider the decision.

Barak said in his written response to Sarsour that “extending the decision is in accordance with the Emergency Law of 1945, and is based on the recommendations of the Israeli security forces who believe that if Sabri were to enter the Al-Aqsa Complex he would threaten general security.”

Sarsour said the decision was consistent with Israel’s plans for Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa.

For his part, Sabri, who served as grand mufti of Jerusalem and Palestine from 1994 to 2006, said that the decision “is part of Israel’s plan to Judaize Jerusalem, controlling the Islamic sacred places.”

He added that the “Israeli occupation implements its devil plans against occupied Jerusalem in stages and when conditions allow.”

Sabri is not the only Palestinian not allowed to enter Al-Aqsa Complex. Hatim Abdulqader, who is charge of the Jerusalem portfolio in the Fatah movement, and the head of the northern branch of Islamic Movement inside Israel, Sheikh Ra'ed Salah, are among the Palestinians that Israel bars from entering the third-holiest site in Islam.