CAIRO, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- Egypt's Al-Azhar, the most prestigious Islamic learning institution in the Sunni Muslim world, strongly condemned on Wednesday the recent Israeli deadly raids on the Palestinian Gaza Strip.
"These terrorist practices require a humanitarian stand from the international community, states and concerned bodies to stop these crimes," the Cairo-based Al-Azhar said in a statement.
At least 23 Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded in the recent Israeli raids on Gaza that started on Tuesday, according to the Gaza health ministry.
Meanwhile, the Israeli media reported that militants in Gaza fired more than 220 rockets and projectiles into Israel since Tuesday.
The new wave of violence broke out on Tuesday after Israel killed Baha Abu al-Atta, a senior commander of the Islamic Jihad militant movement, and his wife in an airstrike on his house in eastern Gaza.
The seven-decade-long conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians erupted following the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories and the Western-backed creation of Israel in 1948.
Egypt't Al-Azhar called for standing by the unarmed Palestinian people and supporting their struggle against the Israeli "oppressive occupation." Enditem
