Doha, 9 Jan. (AKI) - Prominent Egyptian cleric Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi has blamed the Jews for bringing 'corruption to the world'. "I tell the Jews that God will not praise he who oppresses. You have brought corruption to the world at least twice during your history," said Qaradawi during Friday prayers at the Ibn al-Khattab mosque in the Qatari capital Doha, quoted by Arab TV station Al-Jazeera.

"For days we have been seeing the martyrs in Gaza with our own eyes and nobody is doing anything," he said. "The people are calling out for something to be done, but no-one is responding to them."

"From here, from this pulpit, I send a message to the Jewish aggressors and to the West who supports Israel, in particular to the United States, that the promised day is approaching."

Qaradawi, who heads the Union of Islamic Scholars, is one of the ideologues of the banned Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood .

When Israel began its military offensive in the Gaza Strip two weeks ago, he described the Israeli attacks as a 'genocide'.

More than 770 Palestinians have been killed and over 3,000 have been injured since Israel began intense air and later ground attacks in Operation Cast Lead in Gaza on 27 December.

Israeli casualties rose to 14 after three Israeli soldiers were killed on Thursday. Nine of the Israelis killed were soldiers.