Exclusive: Egypt presidency forced Al-Azhar to delete statement condemning Israel's starvation of Gaza

Middle East Eye

24-07-2025

Egypt's presidency pressured Ahmed al-Tayeb, the grand imam of Al-Azhar, the world's foremost Islamic institution, to withdraw a statement condemning Israel's "genocidal starvation" of Gaza, sources told Middle East Eye.
The Cairo-based Al-Azhar said on Wednesday that it had deleted a strongly worded call to action over the starvation of Palestinians in Gaza, citing its potential impact on ceasefire negotiations.
In a statement, the institution said it "took the initiative to withdraw its statement with courage and responsibility before God when it realised that this statement could impact the ongoing negotiations regarding a humanitarian truce in Gaza to save innocent lives".
"Al-Azhar has prioritised the interests of preventing the daily bloodshed in Gaza, hoping that the negotiations will lead to an immediate halt to the bloodshed and provide the most basic necessities of life, of which the oppressed Palestinian people have been deprived," the statement said.
But two sources close to Al-Azhar and the Egyptian presidency confirmed to Middle East Eye that the statement was removed shortly after it was published on Tuesday following a request from President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi's office. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the press.
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The reason for the withdrawal was that the statement referred to the complicy of third states in what Al-Azhar described as "fully fledged genocide" in Gaza.
'Anyone who supplies this entity with weapons, or who emboldens it through complicit resolutions or hypocritical words, is a partner in this act of genocide'
- Deleted Al-Azhar statement
"Al-Azhar strongly affirms that the deliberate and lethal starvation imposed by this abhorrent occupation upon the peaceful people of Gaza, people desperately seeking mere crumbs of bread or a cup of water, while simultaneously targeting shelters for displaced persons and humanitarian aid distribution centres with live ammunition, constitutes a fully fledged crime of genocide," the deleted statement read.
"Moreover, anyone who supplies this entity with weapons, or who emboldens it through complicit resolutions or hypocritical words, is a partner in this act of genocide.
"They shall be held to account by the Just Judge, the Almighty Avenger, on the Day when neither wealth nor children shall be of benefit.
"Al-Azhar declares before God its absolute disavowal of the world's shameful and suspicious silence, of the international community's disgraceful failure to stand by this defenceless people, and of any call for the displacement of the people of Gaza from their land," the statement added.
Egypt is a key mediator between Israel and Hamas, and the government has often tried to tamp down frustrations within the country over its role in what critics describe as maintaining the siege on Gaza, given it shares the Rafah crossing with the enclave.
Children will die quickly amid 'genocidal starvation' in Gaza, warns top famine expert Read More »
Al-Azhar has rarely issued statements on Israel, and has been particularly measured since Israel launched its onslaught on the enclave.
Ali al-Qaradaghi, the head of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, denounced the deletion of the statement as unjustified.
"Why are voices being silenced?" he wrote on X. "The deletion of Al-Azhar's statement, which cried out to consciences to save Gaza, is an unjustified act ... and a desperate attempt to suppress the voice of human and religious conscience in a time of silence and complicity."
The move comes as activists in the Netherlands chained shut the gates of the Egyptian embassy in protest at the country's closure of its border with Gaza.
Egyptian activist Anas Habib filmed himself going to the embassy building in The Hague on Monday, denouncing the "vile, treacherous regime" of Sisi.
Israel's siege on Gaza since 2 March has blocked the entry of humanitarian supplies by the UN and its partner organisations to the enclave, bringing the 2.1 million population to the brink of famine.
At least 115 Palestinians, including 80 children, have died of starvation since March, including 15 who died of malnutrition on Monday, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
What did the statement say?
Below is the full text of the deleted Al-Azhar statement, as obtained and translated by MEE:
"Al-Azhar raises its sorrowful cry and its anguished global appeal, calling upon all people of conscience, those free, wise, honourable individuals across the world who still feel the sting of a troubled conscience, who believe in the sanctity of human responsibility and in the rights of the oppressed and the powerless to equality with their fellow human beings, to a life of safety and dignity. Al-Azhar urges them to act swiftly and decisively to save the people of Gaza from the deadly famine being inflicted upon them by the occupation with a brutality, force, and indifference unprecedented in recorded history, one which, we fear, will remain unmatched in the days to come.
"Al-Azhar declares that the human conscience today stands at a critical juncture, as it bears witness to thousands of children and innocent civilians being killed in cold blood. Those who escape death by violence are dying from hunger, thirst, dehydration, the exhaustion of medical supplies, and the collapse of medical centres that can no longer rescue them from certain death.
"Al-Azhar strongly affirms that the deliberate and lethal starvation imposed by this abhorrent occupation upon the peaceful people of Gaza, people desperately seeking mere crumbs of bread or a cup of water, while simultaneously targeting shelters for displaced persons and humanitarian aid distribution centres with live ammunition, constitutes a fully fledged crime of genocide. Moreover, anyone who supplies this entity with weapons, or who emboldens it through complicit resolutions or hypocritical words, is a partner in this act of genocide. They shall be held to account by the Just Judge, the Almighty Avenger, on the Day when neither wealth nor children shall be of benefit. Let those who support such actions remember well the timeless wisdom: 'We were devoured the day the white bull was devoured.'
"And as Al-Azhar grapples with its sorrow and pain, it issues a heartfelt plea to all influential and powerful actors to do all that lies within their capacity to halt this brutal entity, to force it to cease its systematic killings, to ensure the immediate entry of humanitarian and relief aid, and to open all possible routes for the treatment of the sick and wounded, whose conditions have worsened due to the occupation's relentless targeting of hospitals and medical facilities, in flagrant violation of all divine laws and international conventions.
"In this regard, Al-Azhar declares before God its absolute disavowal of the world's shameful and suspicious silence, of the international community's disgraceful failure to stand by this defenceless people, and of any call for the displacement of the people of Gaza from their land. Al-Azhar also disavows all those who endorse or respond to such calls, holding every supporter of this aggression fully accountable for the blood that is being shed, the souls that are being taken, and the stomachs that are writhing in hunger in wounded Gaza. 'The evildoers will find out what they will return to' [Qur'an, 26:227].
"Furthermore, Al-Azhar Al-Sharif calls upon every Muslim to persist in supplication for the triumph of the oppressed, invoking the prophetic prayer through which our Prophet sought protection:
'O Allah, Revealer of the Book, Mover of the clouds, Defeater of the confederates, defeat them and grant us victory over them.'