Egypt urges religious leader to retract Gaza statement

Egyptian authorities reportedly urged a religious leader of a prominent religious institution, Ahmed al-Tayeb, to retract a statement that denounced Israel’s siege and starvation tactics against Gaza’s population, sparking global outrage, according to The New Arab plus agencies.  

The statement was briefly visible across prominent Egyptian media channels, including those run by United Media Services, an entity believed to have strong ties to Egyptian intelligence, before being removed. 

According to sources close to the institution named Al-Azhar, the move did not originate from within the religious institution but was instead prompted by a directive from the state.

Officials reportedly told the leader, known as the Grand Imam, that Egypt was navigating a “sensitive diplomatic path” in efforts to negotiate a ceasefire, and that the wording of the statement might “complicate Cairo’s mediation efforts”. Authorities claimed the statement was “under revision and would be republished”, but no updated version has since emerged. 

Al-Azhar, a religious institution with global influence, has seldom issued statements this direct in recent years, especially since the outbreak of the war on Gaza.

In an unpublished original statement, the Imam called upon “the conscience of free people around the world” to act swiftly to save Gaza from “a murderous famine imposed with unprecedented brutality”.

It recounted children being “killed in cold blood, or left to die from hunger, thirst and untreated wounds as medical centres shut down under bombardment”.

The statement described Israel’s actions in Gaza as “a fully-fledged genocide”, and condemned those who provide weapons or political support as “partners in this extermination”.

It also warned that those complicit would face divine retribution, quoting the Quran: “The wrongdoers will come to know what end they will meet”.

Al-Azhar additionally rejected any proposal to forcibly relocate Gaza’s population and denounced the “shameful international silence” in the face of civilian suffering.

In an interview with The New Arab in late May, Egyptian political analyst Mohamed Rabie al-Dehi highlighted Egypt’s clear opposition to any attempt to forcibly relocate Gaza’s population, asserting, “Egypt staunchly opposes the displacement of the people of Gaza because it is keen on protecting the rights of the Palestinians to their land.”

The statement concluded with a call for “every Muslim to pray for the oppressed with the words of the Prophet: O Allah, Revealer of the Book, Mover of the Clouds, Defeater of the Confederates, defeat them and grant us victory over them”.

The New Arab plus agencies, Maghrebi.org