Sheikh Raed Salah prays at Al-Aqsa after 15-year expulsion by Israel

The leader of the Islamic Movement in Israel Sheikh Raed Salah has entered Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque for the first time in 15 years on Sunday, ending a long absence from the Muslim holy site forced by Israeli expulsion and imprisonment.

"After more than 15 years of forced removal, Sheikh Raed Salah is now able to enter Al-Aqsa Mosque," Salah's lawyer Khaled Zabarka said on Facebook.

Salah's visit to the holy site, which has long been at the centre of tensions between Palestinians and Israeli forces and settlers, was delayed for a short while when Israeli police stopped him at Jerusalem's Lion's Gate, Anadolu cited eyewitnesses as saying.

Worshippers chanted celebratory slogans and gathered to welcome the religious leader.

Salah, 65, was released in December after being jailed in Israel's Megiddo prison for allegedly "inciting terrorism against the Israeli government". 

The cleric served 11 months in jail - half of which was spent in solitary confinement - before he was moved to house arrest.

After two years under house arrest, in August 2020 Salah began a 17-month jail term on incitement charges.

A staunch defender of Palestinian rights, Salah has staged several protests against Israeli policies and campaigned against the expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories.

Since 2015, Israel has prohibited Salah from traveling outside the country due to "national security" issues.

The Islamic Movement in Israel, which Salah founded in 1971, was outlawed by the Israeli authorities in 2015. 

Salah has been repeatedly detained since then and Israeli authorities have closed dozens of organisations, including several charities, over alleged links to his group.