Azhar Imam warns against Israeli settlement in East Jerusalem

Egypt's top Muslim cleric warned on Sunday that Israel's settlement building in East Jerusalem was opposed by Muslims the world over. Imam of Al-Azhar Sheik Ahmed al-Tayeb said that harming the compound enshrining Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock -- the Hamar al-Sharif -- was a "red line that can't be crossed." Israel and its supporters are trying to Judaize the city and expel Palestinians from their lands in contravention of international law and agreements, he told a press conference in Cairo. Israel captured East Jerusalem in a 1967 war, and annexed the territory in a move never recognized by the international community. The situation of Jerusalem is not only a Palestinian national cause, but an Islamic one, Sheik al-Tayeb said, adding that Muslims across the world would regain their rights. Cairo's Al-Azhar is the oldest Islamic seat of learning and a Sunni Muslim authority.