Cairo Intensifies Pressure on Al-Azhar Sheikh to Withdraw Gaza Hunger Statement
According to the English section of webangah News Agency, citing Mehr News Agency, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed has disclosed that Ahmed al-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, was compelled by high-ranking Egyptian officials to retract a statement condemning the humanitarian disaster in Gaza and Israeli regime crimes against civilians.
The sources said the statement was seen as contradicting Egypt’s current diplomatic line and triggered an immediate reaction from senior authorities.
The statement initially appeared across various media outlets, including platforms linked to Egypt’s security apparatus. However,it was soon removed by direct order from Al-Azhar’s leadership with claims that it would be reviewed and revised-a process after which it never reappeared officially.
The sources emphasized that the withdrawal went against Al-Azhar’s internal consensus and occurred solely at the explicit request of senior officials.In direct interaction with Ahmed al-Tayeb, he was informed that the statement’s sharp and candid tone could cause negative diplomatic repercussions for Egypt-especially given Cairo’s role as mediator in ceasefire talks between Hamas and israel.
A portion of the original text, never formally republished, read: “Today humanity’s conscience faces a grave test as thousands of children and innocent people in Gaza are being killed calmly. Those who survive death face starvation, thirst, drought, lack of medicine, and closure of healthcare centers driving them toward death.”
“The brutal crimes of the Israeli regime-particularly its deliberate policy to starve defenseless Gazans; shooting at refugee shelters; targeting humanitarian aid distribution centers-constitute outright genocide. Any individual, country or institution supporting this regime through weapons supply, decisions or hypocritical silence is directly complicit in this tragedy. The day of reckoning before ultimate justice will inevitably come.”
al-azhar expressed deep sorrow over this catastrophe while calling on all governments, organizations-and influential figures-to act instantly to halt this killing machine and open avenues for aid and medical relief. It also rejected any attempts at forced displacement of Palestinians and held all supporters responsible for spilled bloods and starving bodies resulting from these aggressions.
Al-Azhar called upon all Muslims to persist in prayers for helping the oppressed while reciting Prophet Muhammad’s supplication: ”O Allah! Revealer of books! Controller over clouds! Defeater of confederates! Defeat them & grant us victory over them.”
