The Grand Imam of Egypt's Al-Azhar Ahmed El-Tayeb announced on Wednesday that Al-Azhar rejects US President Donald Trump's decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

"The US president's decision denies the rights of Palestinians and Arabs to their holy city; it ignores the feelings of one-and-a-half-billion Muslims as well as millions of Arab Christians who have a connection to Jerusalem's churches and monasteries," El-Tayeb said in a statement issued following Trump's announcement on Wednesday.

El-Tayeb also called for an urgent meeting of Al-Azhar's Council of Senior Scholars as well as the international Muslim Council of Elders to discuss the implications of Trump's decision.

He also called for an urgent international meeting of Muslim and Christian clerics to discuss the issue.

East Jerusalem, which has been under Israeli occupation since 1967, hosts Al-Aqsa Mosque, which is considered the third holiest site for Muslims.   

Al-Azhar is considered the world's highest institution of Sunni Islamic learning.