Occupied Jerusalem, ALRAY - The Israeli occupation authorities renewed Tuesday an order barring Sheikh Najeh Bkirat, deputy director of the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf Council, from accessing the Al-Aqsa Mosque for six months.

This is the 30th time the Israeli occupation authorities have banned Sheikh Bkirat from entering the Al-Aqsa compound.

He has been barred from accessing the Al-Aqsa Mosque for a total of around seven years and a half since he was first banned in 2003.

On 11 September, the Israeli occupation authorities handed Sheikh Bkirat a six-month order banning him from entering the Al-Aqsa Mosque – a move that he denounced as "arbitrary and racist."