"Help your brothers [in Palestine] with whatever you can and encourage others to support them," Qaradawi appealed to Muslims worldwide

By Masoud Sabri & Sobhy Mujahid

CAIRO, May 19 (IslamOnline.net) - Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Sheikh Mohammad Sayyed Tantawi and prominent scholar Sheikh Youssef Qaradawi on Wednesday, May 19, urged Muslims to support Palestinians beleaguered by "terrorist" Israeli aggressions on the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah.

In statements to IslamOnline.net over the phone from Doha, Qaradawi appealed to Muslims to financially help thousands of Palestinians who were driven homeless during the Israeli offensive on Rafah refugee camp.

Israeli occupation forces on Wednesday killed 26 Palestinians, including at least 22 protesters in Rafah.

The fatalities take to 46 the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli occupation forces in Rafah since the small hours of Tuesday, May 18.

"The tyrant Zionist state has demolished the houses of your Palestinian brothers, particularly Rafah, scooped up their farms, and destroyed their properties," said the veteran moderate scholar.

Israeli campaign of house demolitions has, according to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), left more than 1,000 Rafah residents homeless since late last week.

"Palestinians are left homeless and penniless and they need your help," Qaradawi appealed to Muslims worldwide.

He stressed that extending assistance to the Palestinians is not "a charity or voluntary act" but rather an "obligation" on every financially able Muslim.

Sheikh Qaradawi said Muslims should pay from their Zakah to help their Palestinian brothers who are poor, needy and oppressed.

"Help your brothers with whatever you can and encourage others to support them," he added.

State Terrorism

Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Sheikh Mohammad Sayyed Tantawi blasted the Israeli aggressions on Rafah as "state terrorism".

Sheikh Tantawi, for his part, blasted the Israeli aggressions on Rafah as "state terrorism that requires the immediate intervention of the Muslim countries."

In exclusive statements to IOL, he stressed that "any assaults on people, their homes or their lands constitute a form of terrorism prohibited by all divine religions."

The Israeli Supreme Court on Sunday, May 16, rejected an appeal by Palestinians against the demolition of their homes.

The Palestinian leadership has accused the Israelis of conducting a "war of extermination" in Rafah while the U.N. Security Council is considering its response to events.

Amnesty International dismissed the demolitions as "war crimes" and "collective punishment".

The grand imam of Al-Azhar, the highest religious authority in the Sunni Muslim world, also agreed that helping the people of Rafah is obligatory.

"We condemn any aggression on our brothers in Rafah, their houses and their properties. Helping them is not only obligatory on every Muslim but the entire world community that should rush to assist them."