The administrative detention of Rami Zakaria Ibrahim Baraka, a resident of the town of Sur Baher in southeast Jerusalem and currently one of the leaders of the “Murabitat” organization – Palestinian activists who harass Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount – has been extended in recent days by an additional four months.
Baraka has been in detention since July 2025, with his arrest extended every few months. The current extension prevents the release of a central figure who incites riots and clashes with Jews visiting the Temple Mount, at the height of the volatile Ramadan period.
In July 2025, Baraka was placed under administrative detention for four months (with the approval of the Minister of Defense). The intelligence assessment claimed that he posed a threat to state security due to his involvement in organizing hostile activity and incitement to violence in Jerusalem in general and on the Temple Mount in particular – actions whose evidence could not be disclosed in a regular criminal proceeding.
How Did Baraka’s Path of Terror Begin at a Young Age?
Born in 1975, Baraka began his activities as early as 1992, at the age of 17. At the time, he was part of a local terror cell that operated in Sur Baher, against the backdrop of the final stages of the First Intifada and the formation of Hamas’s military wing.
The cell was involved in setting fire to Israeli vehicles and causing property damage. Its members also planned to move from vandalism to shooting attacks and bombings against security forces and civilians. For his role in the cell’s activities, Baraka was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
This imprisonment became a major milestone in his security “career,” as he deepened his ties with Hamas leadership inside Israeli prisons. After his release in the early 2000s, he became a key figure in Hamas’s Jerusalem command, combining organizational roles with his activities as a prominent “Murabit” at Al-Aqsa Mosque – activities that led to further administrative detentions, including his current arrest in 2025.
In 2014, Baraka was arrested along with 16 other Hamas members, some of them senior figures, who directed and financed security offenses in Jerusalem neighborhoods and on the Temple Mount, aiming to strengthen Hamas’s foothold among East Jerusalem residents. The arrests were carried out jointly by the Jerusalem and Northern District police.
As part of the operation, activists from the northern branch of the Islamic Movement who cooperated with Hamas on the Temple Mount were also detained. Hamas’s activity at the time was disguised as an apparently innocent educational project of the Islamic Movement called “Stages of Knowledge.” According to security officials, the real goal was to increase tensions in the Jerusalem area and create disturbances, especially around Jewish holidays.
Since then, Baraka has learned to conceal his security activity under the guise of community work. He is considered an influential figure in Sur Baher, involved in mediation and reconciliation within the community, and known for assisting needy families and students in East Jerusalem.
On social media, he is perceived as a father figure and a community role model who promotes values of social solidarity. During the May 2021 events (“Guardian of the Walls”), Baraka was arrested inside the Al-Aqsa compound on suspicion of incitement and disturbing public order. Police claimed that he exploited his status to encourage young people to confront security forces.
