Ijtihad Network Being Wise and Faithful Muslim in the Contemporary World
Egypt’s Al-Azhar issued a statement on Monday hailing the Palestinian resistance and the innocent people of Gaza for their perseverance in the face of the Israeli brutal crimes in Gaza, while also praising those in the international community who condemned the “massacres being committed in Gaza.”
“The Palestinians are facing fire sent by a terrorist army, … stripped of all sense of morality and humanity, [which is carrying out] various brutal crimes, including bombing hospitals; destroying mosques and churches; and killing children, women, news reporters, and innocent citizens,” the statement said.
Al-Azhar, the world’s leading Sunni Islamic religious institution, also praised United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for his “courageous and chivalrous stance” calling for a halt to the aggression on Gaza.
In a speech to a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) meeting on Tuesday, Guterres said that “it is important to also recognize the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum.”
“The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation. They have seen their land steadily devoured by settlements and plagued by violence; their economy stifled; their people displaced and their homes demolished,” he said.
“Their hopes for a political solution to their plight have been vanishing,” he added.
Guterres’s statement was met with backlash from Israel, which accused him of justifying Hamas operation on 7 October and demanded he resign.
Al-Azhar said Guterres showed no fear or favoritism while talking at the UNSC session.
Al-Azhar praised all stances taken by those “who did not remain silent” and condemned “these brutal massacres being committed in Gaza.”
The statement also called on the Arab and Islamic governments to “harness their capabilities to support Palestinians and “stop the oppression of this usurping entity.”
Israel has killed 8,306 Palestinians, including 3,457 children, and wounded 21,048 others, according to the Palestinian health ministry in Gaza.
Israel imposed a full blockade on the 2.3 million Palestinians in the strip after 7 October, cutting off all food, water, medicines, fuel, and power supplies to the strip.
Tel Aviv has allowed only a trickle of aid into the Palestinian territory; a far cry from the needed 100 daily trucks.
Last week, Al-Azhar’s Egyptian Zakat and Charity House sent an 18-truck convoy carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Source:ahram
