ISTANBUL

Egypt’s Al-Azhar University, the highest seat of Sunni Muslim learning, has denounced the Israeli decision to build new settlement units in occupied East Jerusalem, terming it "Zionist terrorism."

In a statement late Monday, the institution urged "the international community to take a decisive stance to stop the Zionist settlement policy on Palestinian lands."

It censured the decision to build new settlement units "with the aim of changing the demographic reality and tampering with the Palestinian identity."

Al-Azhar called for a "decisive stand against Zionist terrorism, which requires the international community to fulfill its legal and moral responsibilities toward these unfair measures."

Israel plans to build 1,257 more settlement units in the Israeli Givat Hamatos settlement in occupied East Jerusalem, according to local media.

Israel occupied Palestinian territories, including the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip in 1967. The Palestinians want these territories for the establishment of a future Palestinian state.

*Writing by Mahmoud Barakat