Egyptian president exerts intensified efforts to stop Israeli aggression

Abul-Gheit: We aim to end raids on Gaza Strip

Palestinian government thanks Egypt, Abbas rejects genocide in Gaza

Fayyad denounces media blitz on Arab stance

Israeli leaders assert intention to escalate war on Gaza

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak met with Chairman of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas to discuss how to halt the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip.

Abbas said the Palestinian Authority is responsible for the Palestinian people. Hamas leaders in Gaza were contacted directly and indirectly to be urged not to end the truce with Israel in a bid to spare ourselves the aggression, he added.

Abbas noted he had been in constant contact with Arab leaders since yesterday along with the UN and the US in a bid to stop the Palestinian bloodletting.

His second visit to Egypt in five days was meant to have talks with President Hosni Mubarak on the Israeli aggression on the strip and means of putting an end to this massacre.

Mahmoud Abbas blamed the rival Hamas group for triggering Israel's deadly raids on Gaza by not extending a six-month truce with the Jewish state.

Abbas, whose Fatah movement has been at loggerheads with the Islamist group, said maintaining the truce could have helped the Palestinians avoid the Israeli raids, which have killed more than 270 people in Gaza in the past two days.

"We talked to them (Hamas) and we told them 'please, we ask you, do not end the truce. Let the truce continue and not stop' so that we could have avoided what happened," he said in Cairo.

The two groups have been at odds since Hamas won parliamentary elections in 2006 and then drove Fatah forces out of Gaza in June 2007.

Israel said its raids were in response to cross-border rocket attacks by Hamas. Each side blamed the other for violating and failing to extend the Egyptian-brokered truce, which expired on Dec. 19.

Abbas, speaking after talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, said the priority was to end the bloodshed and restore the truce.

Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit of Egypt, which has mediated between Hamas and Israel and between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, said the Israeli ambassador was summoned to the Foreign Ministry for the second day in a row to receive a complaint about Israeli military operations.

"We object to this and we demand a stop and that the Israeli army does not carry out a new invasion," he said.

Several Arab leaders have proposed an Arab summit to respond to the attacks on Gaza but Abul-Gheit suggested a meeting could be some way off.

"Priority is the Arab measures at the level of foreign ministers ... then we can look at a later phase, but we don't imagine moving without proper preparation for such a summit. First we have to look at the ceasefire measures," he said.

Egypt is exerting much efforts to control the situation in the Gaza Strip, said Abul-Gheit at a joint press conference with visiting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

The Arab foreign ministers, at their meeting, are required to decide means of reaching a ceasefire and restoring calm between Israel and the Palestinians, he added.

The Arab summit, that will be held on the back of the Israeli aggressions, should be well-prepared, he said, adding that Egypt has summoned for the second time today the Israeli ambassador in Cairo to tell him about its rejection of statements by Israeli defense minister on expanding the military aggression on Gaza.

The Egyptian ambassador to Israel was designated to hold contacts with quarters there to help stop the Israeli aggression, he added.

Abul-Gheit, at his joint press conference with visiting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said Egypt has many time and again warned against this situation.

Egypt will contact the UNSC and GCC member states in an attempt to work for halting the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, he added.

As for the wounded Palestinians, Abul-Gheit said an Egyptian group, led by the Egyptian minister of health, is now at the borders with Gaza to receive the injured Palestinians for receiving medical treatment in Egypt.

Answering a question on the possibility of holding an emergency Arab summit, Abul-Gheit said what matters now is focusing our efforts to reach a ceasefire and protect the Palestinian blood along with guaranteeing the flow of humanitarian relief assistance to the Palestinians.

The Palestinian leader and the Arab League chief discussed the situation in Gaza Strip in light of the Israeli aggression on the Palestinian enclave.

Talks between Palestine's Mahmoud Abbas and Arab League's Amr Moussa also tackled the emergency meeting of the Arab foreign ministers to take place on Wednesday. The meeting is mainly devoted to the current Israeli raids on Gaza Strip and means to end them.

Palestinian Ambassador in Cairo Nabil Amr and PLO negotiations department head Saeb Erekat attended the meeting.

The Arab foreign ministers will meet on Wednesday to discuss the deteriorating situation in the Gaza Strip and adopt a unified Arab stance in face of Israel's air strikes on the strip, according to the Arab League chief.

At a press conference following the Arab League Council meeting held at the permanent delegates level, Secretary General Amr Moussa said the meeting discussed proposals floated by Qatar and Syria for holding an emergency Arab summit to discuss and adopt necessary resolutions as regards the serious situation in the Gaza Strip. The Arab countries have been notified of the proposals and the Arab League Secretariat is waiting to hear from them, he added.

The minute the Secretariat receives their approval it will work on preparing for an Arab summit as soon as possible.

The Arab League Council was held at the permanent delegates' level to follow up the tragic situation in Gaza Strip, Moussa said. The situation in the strip as well as the latest Palestinian developments are being followed up, he added.

Contacts are being held at various levels, he said. He added UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has contacted him and that they spoke about the stance that should be adopted as regards these dangerous developments.

Moussa expressed his as well as the entire Arab nation's condolences to Gazans and to the families of the victims of the Israeli air strikes.

Moussa in the name of the Arab League's thanked Egypt for opening the Rafah crossing to receive wounded Palestinians and give humanitarian assistance access to the Palestinian territories.

He called on all Arab countries to offer immediate aid to the Gazans and not to leave them on their own in these dangerous circumstances.

He also called for ending inter-Palestinian divide which led to weakening the Palestinian front as well as the Arab one.

The Palestinians ought to adopt an immediate stance, end their division and unify their rank, he said.

Now is the right moment for all Palestinians and Arabs to unite to stop Israel's aggression, Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa said.

"The primary aim is to stop the Israeli attacks on Gaza and stop the sufferings of Palestinians given the rising numbers of martyrs," Moussa said at a press conference with visiting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Moussa said he will contact Hamas political bureau chief Khaled Meshal to discuss the gravity of the current situation not only on Palestinians and Arabs, but on the Middle East as a whole.

He examined with Abbas the latest Israeli mobilization of reservists, preparations for an Arab foreign ministerial meeting on Wednesday as well as arrangements for an emergency Arab summit possibly by the end of this week, Moussa said.

Moussa said he and Abbas regard the statement issued by the UNSC as "insufficient", although it called for an end to all military operations.

"We will continue to work at the Arab and international levels and the next step will be a foreign ministerial meeting," he said.

Asked if Hamas would be invited, Moussa said: "only foreign ministers are invited to the foreign ministers' meeting, but foreign ministers could decide on anything in this respect. The issue is open to discussion, but the invitation was issued only to the foreign ministers of Arab countries."

The meeting will take place on Wednesday because currently Gulf foreign ministers are meeting in Muscat, Oman, and the meeting was postponed at the request of Gulf states, Moussa said.

Discussions will focus on the present situation on the ground in Gaza, the inter-Palestinian differences and the need to close Palestinian ranks, as well as the Arab-Israeli situation, he said.

Regarding the emergency Arab summit, Moussa said "we informed all Arab countries yesterday of two separate requests from Qatar and Syria to hold the summit. These two requests were presented to member states and we want an official response by today or tomorrow."

Asked whether this emergency summit would replace the ordinary Arab summit, Moussa said "the March summit is scheduled."

The two requests are for an extraordinary summit which is not designed as a substitute for the annual summit, he said.

The emergency summit could be held at the Arab League or an Arab country could request to host it, Moussa said.

President Hosni Mubarak received on Saturday a telephone call from United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that tackled Egypt's efforts to contain the current escalation in the Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian health minister praised Egypt's efforts to help the Palestinians in face of Israeli crimes.

Fathi Abu Meghali, in statements while receiving Palestinian casualties coming from Gaza Strip via Rafah crossing, paid tribute to President Hosni Mubarak's decision to offer all humanitarian assistance to Gazans who have been under fierce Israeli air raids as of Saturday.

He thanked Egypt for opening Rafah crossing to receive Palestinian victims of Israeli aggression.

The Palestinian minister also lauded Saudi decision to send aid shipments to Gazans and two planes to carry the wounded Palestinians to be treated in Israeli hospitals.

President Mahmud Abbas on Thursday called on Hamas to resume reconciliation talks with his secular Fatah party which broke down in November.

"We want them to return to reason," Abbas said while on a visit to the southern West Bank city of Hebron.

"We do not want to get rid of them, they are a part of the Palestinian people, whatever their ideas and vision may be, and however they may differ from ours."

"But we want them to find the right way, we will not accept for this nation to remain torn apart. We call and continue to call for national dialogue."

"It is true that they refused dialogue without reason, but we tell them... 'come so that we can reach an agreement with you'."

He also rejected any clashes with the Islamist group, saying that "democracy" must be the sole resolution of internal Palestinian discord.

"We do not wish for clashes, a civil war is a destructive war, it does not bring any result," he said. "We refuse to resort to arms."

Abbas recently said that if Hamas did not return to reconciliation talks by the end of the year, he would call snap parliamentary and presidential elections.

Hamas has warned that it would no longer recognize Abbas if he remained in power after his term expired on January 8 and would not allow the holding of new parliamentary polls before they are due in January 2010.

On the Israeli side, Israeli President Shimon Peres said in a statement released to the media that it is time for the world to understand that Israel has been more than patient in waiting for the people of Gaza to come to their senses.

Detailing all the agony and subsequent fallout of the 2005 Disengagement from Gaza, Peres said, "The story is simple. Israel has left Gaza completely.. The passages were open. Money was sent to Gaza. We suggested aid in many ways .. economically, medically and otherwise.. Still I have not heard until now a single person who could explain to us reasonably: why are they firing rockets against Israel?"

He added that in planning the current Operation Cast Lead, the IDF had been "true to its principles: namely, to be precise in its targets and careful not to hit civilian life."

He noted that this was a complex problem, because many of the bombs were stored in private houses. "We have contacted the owners of the houses, the people that dwell there, and told them leave it. You can't live with bombs. We have to bring an end to the source of the bombs."

Peres added that Israel has no intention of returning to Gaza. "We left out of our free choice. We have never gone back to the idea of returning to Gaza. It's over," he said. "But we cannot permit that Gaza will become a permanent base of threatening and even killing children and innocent people in Israel for G-d knows why."

The bottom line, he said bluntly, is that anyone in the world who now wishes to ask Israel to stop the shooting, "they have to change the address. Let them turn to Hamas and ask them to stop shooting, and there won't be shooting."

Hundreds of left-wing and human rights activists marched in the streets of Tel Aviv to protest the massive Israel Air Force offensive in Gaza that left at least 230 dead and hundreds more wounded, the Haaretz newspaper reported.

The protesters marched from Tel Aviv's Cinematheque toward the Defense Ministry offices. Police, some mounted on horseback, surrounded the protesters, arresting five of them.

According to the protesters, Israel's military action in Gaza does not protect Israeli citizens or provide them security.

"No one can tell us that slaughtering the citizens of Gaza is meant to protect the citizens of Sderot and Ashkelon," said Matan Kaminer, a student who participated in the march.

Some protesters complained of extraneous force on the part of horse-mounted police, but overall the march remained non-violent.

Similar protests took place in Arab villages in the Galilee and in Bedouin villages in the Negev.

Israel's operation in the Gaza Strip will take time before bring southern Israel back to quiet, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said after the deadly air strikes in the Hamas-ruled enclave.

"We are not eager for a fight, but we will not back down from it," said Olmert at a brief joint press conference with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

The three were tasked earlier this week by the cabinet with deciding on the time and manner of possible Gaza maneuvers.

"Israel has done all it could to preserve the ceasefire with Hamas, but our desire for quiet was met with terror," said the premier, adding that the government will give the army time to operate in Gaza as the efforts to return residents of southern Israel to a normal life will take time.

While stressing that Israel's enemy is not Gazan residents but Hamas, the premier tried to ease the humanitarian concerns of the international community, saying that Israel will do whatever it can to prevent a humanitarian disaster in the impoverished area.

The remarks came hours after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carried out a series of brutal air strikes against tens of Hamas' targets in the Gaza Strip, killing over 190 and wounding another several hundreds, in a massive operation launched in response to the continuing artillery firing at southern Israel.

Shortly after the bombardment, Barak told an earlier press conference that the time has come for battle and that the operation would be deepened and expanded as much as necessary. Local daily The Jerusalem Post reported that the Israeli army was increasing forces around the Gaza Strip on Saturday evening in preparation of a possible ground operation.

Meanwhile, Livni has instructed her ministry to step up public relations efforts to garner support of the international community, highlighting that Israel has been left with no other option.

Israel on Wednesday mulled a proposed 48-hour truce as world leaders stepped up calls for an end to the violence and warplanes pummeled Hamas targets in the battered Gaza Strip.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak was looking favorably at the proposal for a brief ceasefire, his spokesman said, stressing however that this would not prevent Israel from preparing for a possible ground offensive.

Israeli officials warned that the onslaught which has killed at least 373 Palestinians in its first four days could continue for weeks, while Hamas militants fired more deadly rockets and threatened to step up their attacks on Israel.

"We tell the leaders of the enemy -- if you continue with your assault, we will hit with our rockets further than the cities we have hit so far," a masked spokesman for the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the Hamas armed wing, said in televised comments.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert discussed with his foreign and defense ministers a French proposal for a 48-hour truce, but his office said the premier had imposed a strict blackout on the details of the meeting.

The discussions focused on "diplomatic, military and operational aspects of Israel's next steps," his office said in a statement.

US President George W. Bush spoke with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas to discuss a "sustainable ceasefire."

"They agreed that for any ceasefire to be effective, it must be respected, particularly by Hamas ," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe told reporters in Crawford, Texas.

The European Union separately called for a "permanent" ceasefire in and around the Gaza Strip, while the Middle East Quartet called for "an immediate ceasefire that would be fully respected."

The Quartet brings together the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States.

But throughout the day, Israeli officials insisted the armed forces would press on with the offensive, which has sparked Muslim outrage and protests worldwide.

"What we want is not a ceasefire but a stop to terrorism," said President Shimon Peres.

Infrastructure Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer warned a ceasefire would allow Hamas "to regain strength, recover from the shock and prepare an even stronger attack against Israel."

"There is no reason that we would accept a ceasefire at this stage," he told AFP.

With tanks and troops massed on the Gaza border, the Israeli military said ground forces were ready to join what politicians have warned would be a prolonged offensive.

Olmert said the bombardment so far was "the first of several stages approved by the security cabinet," while deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai warned the offensive -- one of Israel's deadliest against Gaza -- could turn into "weeks of combat."

World leaders have expressed serious concern about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, a tiny, aid-dependent territory of 1.5 million which Israel has virtually sealed off since Hamas seized power in June last year. Israel opened one of its crossings into Gaza for a third consecutive day, the defense ministry said, adding that a total of 179 truckloads of humanitarian supplies and 10 ambulances were delivered since the start of the military offensive.

Warplanes, meanwhile blew up dozens of tunnels along Gaza's border with Egypt, which Hamas used to smuggle weapons and bring in "terror activists," a military spokesman said in a statement. "These tunnels play a major role in supplying Hamas with the means of strengthening its ability to carry out terror," the statement said.

It said 30 additional targets were attacked, including rocket launchers, weapons manufacturing facilities and "armed terror operatives."

Four days of intensive bombardment have killed several senior Hamas officials and reduced much of the Islamist movement's infrastructure in Gaza to rubble, but have failed to stop rocket fire.

Hamas has threatened to carry out suicide attacks inside Israel for the first time since January 2005.

Since the massive aerial attack was unleashed on Saturday, at least 373 Palestinians, including 39 children, have been killed and 1,720 wounded, Gaza medics say.

Palestinian militants have also fired more than 250 rockets and mortar shells, killing four people inside Israel and wounding around two dozen more.

Israel's offensive followed days of rising violence after a tenuous six-month truce in and around Gaza ended on December 19; and ahead of early parliamentary elections in Israel due February 10.

Last Thursday, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni had threatened, after meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, that Israel will no more allow Hamas to control the Gaza Strip, asserting she will change the situation in the strip.

At a joint press conference with Abul-Gheit, Tzipi Livni voiced appreciation of efforts exerted by Egypt under the leadership of President Mubarak to breathe life into the Mideast peace process and achieve calm between the Palestinians and the Israelis.

The Israeli minister noted that she discussed with President Mubarak openly and frankly the deteriorating conditions in the Gaza Strip.

Egypt voiced concern about the situation in the Gaza Strip, she said.

According to Livni, Hamas is squarely to blame for the deteriorating Gaza Strip situation.

At a time Israel is negotiating with the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) to revive the peace process Hamas has been launching daily attacks on Israel, which, according to the minister constituted an obstacle down the road towards the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

Israeli Minister Tzipi Livni said it is high time for Hamas to perceive that Israel's willingness for realizing peace in the region does not mean that the Israeli side will tolerate Hamas' recalcitrance for a longer period.

It's time to say no, Livni said, adding that Israel will not allow Hamas to continue with its attacks.

Meantime, the Israeli minister blamed Hamas for violating the Palestinian-Israeli appeasement several times.

Answering a question on Livni's tone that implicates a continued Israeli escalation of the situation in the Gaza Strip, Abul-Gheit voiced hope that both sides would exercise self-restraint.

Abul-Gheit puts Egypt's main goal as maintaining as well as securing calm, eyeing a Palestinian-Palestinian reconciliation that paves the way for holding Palestinian-Israeli negotiations to save Palestinians in Gaza any more humanitarian problems.

asked if there is a chance for a truce between Israel and the Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip, Livni said Hamas was always violating the Egyptian-brokered ceasefire.

Abul-Gheit said "Both the Palestinian and Israeli sides should not provoke each other. They should exercise self-restraint and resort to reason before taking any reaction."

He added that "if Hamas has fired rockets at Israel, we now see Israeli escalations with the occupation troops barging into Gaza."

"We urge both sides to return to the ceasefire," he said.

Commenting on claims of the smuggling of weapons from Egypt to the strip through tunnels, Abul-Gheit stressed that these are mere allegations.

Regarding Israel's preparedness to take part in an international conference to realize stability in Gaza, the Israeli foreign minister said Israel is ready for realizing a peace deal with the Palestinians.

Israeli forces pulled out from Gaza and this step gives a chance for establishing a Palestinian state, she said.

Israel will work only with those who seek to attain the goal of "peace," she said, adding that "terrorists" will get nothing from Israel. It is erroneous to think that resorting to violence will lead to any gains.

Asked if Egypt will have influence on Livni's future steps and vision vis-à-vis the peace process if she were to become Israel's next prime minister, she said Israel really appreciates the role played by Egypt to achieve peace in the region and cement the truce. "Israel needs help to revive the peace process."

Regarding Israel's attempts to export problems of the Gaza Strip to Egypt, Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit said "Egypt will not allow this to happen."

Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said the Arab peace overture sent a "positive" message to Israel on the importance of realizing peace in the region without resorting to violence.

She said an Arab foreign ministerial delegation visited Israel under the umbrella of the Arab League to spell out the initiative, stressing that the Arab League was not seeking to replace the Palestinians in peace parleys.

Reaching a comprehensive peaceful solution between the Palestinian and Israeli sides needs Arab support, she said.

The Lebanese security forces separated a demonstration by force near the Egyptian embassy in the capital of Beirut, local New TV reported.

Thousands of demonstrators carrying Palestinian and Hezbollah flags tried to approach the Egyptian embassy in western Beirut, but Lebanese security elements and riot police set up wires to prevent them from getting close to the embassy, and used water pipes to separate them.

TV footage showed several demonstrators got fainting, while ambulances carried them away.

Earlier, sit-ins were staged in front of a UN building in central Beirut.

Demonstrations also took place in southern Lebanese town of Nabatiyeh and in Baalbek of the Bekaa valley.

Demonstrators called on Egypt to open Rafah crossing at the border with Gaza. They also showed anger over Arab silence over the "massacres in Gaza."

Meanwhile, in a weird move, Lebanon's Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah urged Egyptians in their "millions" to take to the streets to force their government to open the country's border with Gaza Strip. "If the people took to the streets by the millions, could the police kill millions of Egyptians?" Nasrallah said in a televised address.

"People of Egypt, you must open this border by the force of your chests," he said. If Egypt did not open the Rafah Crossing to Gaza, he added, it would be considered a partner in the killing of Palestinians by the Israeli military.

Earlier, dozens of Palestinians crossed into Egyptian territory from Gaza Strip as Egyptian riot police fired in the air to fend them off, witnesses said. According to Reuters, the holes appeared in the wall following Israeli raids in the southern part of the Strip.

Palestinian Prime Minister Sallam Fayyad hailed Egypt's stance toward what is happening in the Gaza Strip and its decision to receive Palestinians wounded in recent Israeli operations to be treated in Egyptian hospitals.

In press statements, the Palestinian prime minister denounced the media blitz on Arab countries supporting the Palestinians.

Who will benefit from the continuation of incitement and doubts on the Arabs who offered tens of thousands of martyrs in defense of the Palestinian rights, he wondered.

He pointed out that the Palestinian leadership, in coordination with all Arab leaders, will adopt decisions during the coming hours or days to help the Palestinian side.