Egypt's Presidency issued a statement yesterday condemning the Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip and blaming the Jewish State for the killed and wounded. At the same time, Egypt decided to open Rafah border crossing to Palestinian injured. The statement, though, also puts the blame on the Palestinian factions. "Israel's and the Palestinians' recent failure to respond to the Egyptian efforts will not reduce Egypt's determination to continue such efforts" the statement says. It stresses that Cairo will continue having contacts to create favorable conditions to resume the ceasefire and reach an entente among the Palestinian factions in order to put an end to the Palestinian people's suffering. The statement goes on to say that President Mubarak ordered to let all the victims of the Israeli aggression into Egypt through the Rafah border crossing and to provide them with the necessary sanitary assistance in Egyptian hospitals. Meanwhile, Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit strongly condemned the Israeli aggression and said Egypt had called on Israel to immediately stop it. The official spokesman of the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Hossam Zaki said Aboul Gheit ordered to summon the Israeli ambassador to Cairo to voice Egypt's total rejection of the Israeli aggression and to demand it be immediately halted. He also pointed out that the Egyptian ambassador to Israel had been entrusted with transferring this message to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. According to Zaki, the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent urgent messages to the UN Secretary General and the Security Council president to stop this aggression immediately and to urge the UN, the International Quartet and the foreign ministers of the permanent members of the Security Council to play their roles. The Ministry also called on the Security Council to shoulder its responsibilities and put an end to these military actions. Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa said Jordan called for an urgent meeting of the foreign ministries today to discuss the Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, an official at Rafah border crossing said six cars went there yesterday waiting for Palestinian wounded. He also explained that Arish hospital would receive some injured, while others would be transferred to Ismailia and Cairo. According to security sources, the security services sent some 500 policemen to the borders at Rafah to prevent any accidents that may occur after Israel's strikes on Gaza.
