Sisi Pledges to Improve Religious Rhetoric

Sisi gestures during an interview with Reuters in Cairo, Egypt in this May 14, 2014 file photo. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
Sisi gestures during an interview with Reuters in Cairo, Egypt in this May 14, 2014 file photo. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
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Sisi Pledges to Improve Religious Rhetoric

Sisi gestures during an interview with Reuters in Cairo, Egypt in this May 14, 2014 file photo. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
Sisi gestures during an interview with Reuters in Cairo, Egypt in this May 14, 2014 file photo. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has stressed that Egypt remains committed to its mission to improve religious rhetoric.

"This is a collaborative responsibility that requires concerted efforts so that we build together a bright and wise intellectual path … to face challenges and build the future state," Sisi said Sunday.

In a speech marking the Prophet’s birthday, the president urged religious authorities to double their efforts to spread tolerance and correct religious misconceptions.

Sisi noted that the message of Islam values knowledge and science, and that the first word in Quran is “read.”

He further underlined that awareness is a key factor for a nation’s stability and progress.

The president stressed the importance of confronting individuals who take the holy words out of context and those who seek to stray people away from performing "the divine commands of reconstruction and reform of the world in what is good for humanity as a whole."

For his part, Al-Azhar Grand Imam Ahmed El-Tayyeb shed light on the importance of saving Muslim communities from the inhumane conditions that have been imposed by "some people who claim they abide by the instructions of the Prophet, and his religion and jurisprudence, while they kill innocents."

Tayyeb slammed those individuals who "turn Allah's mosques to arenas for war where lives are lost, blood is shed, bodies shattered, and sanctities violated.”



Aid to Gaza 'Facing Total Collapse', Warn 12 NGOs

 A Palestinian boy looks through a hole in the wall into a damaged room after an Israeli strike on a school housing displaced Palestinians in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on April 17, 2025. (AFP)
A Palestinian boy looks through a hole in the wall into a damaged room after an Israeli strike on a school housing displaced Palestinians in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on April 17, 2025. (AFP)
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Aid to Gaza 'Facing Total Collapse', Warn 12 NGOs

 A Palestinian boy looks through a hole in the wall into a damaged room after an Israeli strike on a school housing displaced Palestinians in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on April 17, 2025. (AFP)
A Palestinian boy looks through a hole in the wall into a damaged room after an Israeli strike on a school housing displaced Palestinians in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on April 17, 2025. (AFP)

The humanitarian aid system in Gaza is "facing total collapse" because of Israel's blockade on aid supplies since March 2, the heads of 12 major aid organizations warned Thursday, urging Israel to let them "do our jobs".

Israel has vowed to maintain its blockage on humanitarian aid to the war-ravaged territory, saying it is the only way to force Hamas to release the 58 hostages still held there.

"Every single person in Gaza is relying on humanitarian aid to survive," the chief executives of 12 NGOs, including Oxfam and Save the Children, wrote in a joint statement.

"That lifeline has been completely cut off since a blockade on all aid supplies was imposed by Israeli authorities on March 2," they said, adding that "This is one of the worst humanitarian failures of our generation."

A survey of 43 international and Palestinian aid organizations working in Gaza found that almost all have suspended or drastically cut services since a ceasefire ended on March 18, "with widespread and indiscriminate bombing making it extremely dangerous to move around", the NGOs said.

"Famine is not just a risk, but likely rapidly unfolding in almost all parts of Gaza," they said. "Survival itself is now slipping out of reach and the humanitarian system is at breaking point."

"We call on all parties to guarantee the safety of our staff and to allow the safe, unfettered access of aid into and across Gaza through all entry points, and for world leaders to oppose further restrictions."

Israel's renewed assault has killed at least 1,691 people in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, bringing the overall toll since the war erupted to 51,065, most of them civilians.

Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, also mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.