Top Egypt cleric slams Israel for violating al-Aqsa Mosque

Rasa - The Grand Imam of the al-Azhar Mosque, Egypt’s top Muslim authority, has strongly denounced Israeli regime forces for violating the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East al-Quds (Jerusalem).

News ID: 3029

Date: 28 July 2015 - 22:25

RNA - In a statement issued in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, on Monday, Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb also censured Israeli forces for preventing Palestinian worshipers from entering the holy site.

The senior religious figure also spoke in condemnation of the acts of aggression exercised by the Tel Aviv regime against men, women and children inside the al-Aqsa Mosque, saying it contradicts the directives of all heavenly religions “that call for peace and co-existence.”

He made the comments a day after fresh clashes erupted between Israeli police and a group of Palestinian worshipers when Israeli forces stormed the Muslim site in the Israeli-occupied Old City of al-Quds.

Dozens of worshipers were injured and at least six of them were detained by Israeli forces during the clashes. Many of them also suffered breathing irritations due to teargas inhalation.

Sheikh Tayeb, the Egyptian cleric, further said the “Zionist entity’s practices represent a clear provocation to the feelings of Muslims in every corner of the globe.”

He called for immediate intervention by the international community in order “to halt the Zionist entity’s unjustified violations and provocations.”

Sheikh Tayeb has repeatedly accused what he described as a “Zionist plan” for wreaking havoc on Islamic countries and creating rifts and strife among Muslims.

Separately, in a statement issued on July 26, Iyad Ameen Madani, the head of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), also called on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to take measures for an end to the Israeli attacks on the al-Aqsa Mosque and the violation of the holy Islamic site.

The al-Aqsa Mosque is Islam’s third-holiest site after Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia. The compound is also holy to the Jews.

In recent months, Israeli forces and settlers have stepped up their attacks on the mosque, which has led to violent confrontations between the two sides.

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