The Israeli authorities arrested Thursday dawn the Imam and preacher of Lod's Grand Mosque, Youssef al-Baz, for, allegedly, "incitement against the Israeli police officers."

Al-Baz’s arrest came after Knesset member Itamar Ben-Gvir from the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, and the campaign of arrests that affected more than 2,000 people, including several leaders and activists, including the head of the Freedoms Committee in the Follow-up Committee and the deputy head of the Islamic Movement Sheikh Kamal Khatib, the leader In the Abnaa al-Balad movement, Mohammad Asaad Kanana, and the freed prisoner, Dhafer Jabarin, against the background of the recent protests against the aggression on Gaza and the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Sheikh al-Baz is a prominent leader in the Islamic movement banned by the Israeli authorities and is known for his many years of defending and advocating Palestinian rights in Lod.

On November 17, the Israeli authorities banned the Islamic movement led by Sheikh Raed Salah and his deputy Sheikh Kamal Khatib, closing down 20 civil institutions, without filing any charges of legal infringement of any of them, but rather relied on the emergency law.