Cairo: Egypt’s top Sunni institute of Al-Azhar Sheikhdom strongly condemned the continued closure of the Al-Aqsa Mosque by the Israeli occupation. In a statement published on its official social media pages, the sheikhdom criticized the ongoing closure, which has persisted since Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr, labeling it as a reprehensible and immoral act.

According to State Information Service Egypt, the statement highlighted the closure of Al-Aqsa Mosque, considered the first of the two Qiblas and the third holiest site in Islam, as a violation of Palestinians’ rights to practice their religious rites. It further described the act as a provocation to Muslims worldwide and a blatant breach of international law.

Al-Azhar called on the international community to address these systematic acts of aggression. The statement accused the Israeli occupation of seeking to transform the region into a continuous arena of wars and conflicts. It reaffirmed that Al-Aqsa Mosque remains a purely Islamic sanctuary, rejecting any temporal and spatial division efforts imposed by the occupier.

The sheikhdom also condemned Israel’s alleged plans to Judaize the landmarks of Jerusalem, emphasizing that Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the State of Palestine.