Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024. AFP
In a statement issued on Monday, Al-Azhar said the Israeli attack on the refugee camp in the city of Rafah targeted innocent displaced persons in their tents in areas that Israel deceptively claimed to be safe zones for Gaza's residents.
It also called on the international community to take a decisive and urgent stance to enforce the rulings and decisions issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against the Zionist entity and its leaders.
“This includes the immediate cessation of the terrorist aggression on Rafah, the opening of the Rafah border crossing to allow humanitarian aid and relief into the Gaza Strip, and the halt of the brutal Zionist killing machine,” the statement added.
According to the statement, Al-Azhar reiterated its salute and appreciation to the courageous Palestinian resistance, showing the world its bravery in defending and clinging to its land.
The influential Islamic Sunni institution praised the Palestinian people's determination to live on their homeland's soil, rejecting all the occupiers' attempts to forcefully displace them, despite facing unprecedented genocide in modern history.
Furthermore, Al-Azhar renewed its salute to the free peoples and the flood of youth who took to Europe and America's universities, streets, and squares, expressing global rejection of this chaos.
“If left to continue in this bleak direction, it will push the entire world into further wars, conflicts, and hatred, eroding trust in the international community and institutions,” it warned.
Journalists Syndicate's stance
On Monday, the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate also condemned in a statement the "Tent Holocaust" carried out by the “fascist Zionist occupation forces” against the unarmed displaced people in Rafah, under an “American sponsorship.”
This brutal crime and the ongoing massacres against the Palestinian people hold the American administration and all those who participate with silence and justification responsible, the syndicate emphasized.
Moreover, it considered the targeting of refugee camps on the Egyptian border and the continued presence of Israeli forces at the Rafah crossing a clear breach of the peace treaty, representing a declaration of war that must be countered by all means.
The syndicate also called on all international parties to take action to prosecute the war criminals, immediately halt the “barbaric assault” on the Palestinian people, address the imposed blockade, and stop the obstruction of aid reaching Palestinians due to Israel's control over the Rafah crossing from the Palestinian side.
In addition, it praised the ICJ's ruling issued on Friday, ordering the Israeli occupation government to stop its aggression on Rafah.
The ongoing massacres against civilians and displaced persons are a blatant challenge to this ruling, supported by “American sponsorship and international collusion,” proving beyond doubt that the world was witnessing a deliberate and premeditated genocide, the syndicate stressed.
The syndicate also saluted the Western countries that have recognized the Palestinian state.
However, it called on Arab governments to urgently act to stop the Zionist aggression against Palestinians, sever diplomatic relations with the occupation government, cease all forms of cooperation with it, and criminalize all forms of normalization with the occupying entity.
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