Minister for Foreign Affairs Ahmed Abul-Gheit criticized Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah's calling on Egypt to supply Gaza with fuel, food, men and weapons. In a press conference yesterday, Abul-Gheit said Nasrallah's demands means that he wants to "drag Egypt into an armed clash and problems it should not be involved in as long as the Egyptian national security, interests and border are not threatened. Today's generations are not aware of the meaning of war." With regard to the issue of opening the crossings, Abul-Gheit said he had talked about this issue before the Arab foreign ministers and confirmed that there is an Israeli scheme since 1981 to separate Gaza from the West Bank so that Gaza would be controlled by Egypt and the West Bank by Jordan, thus ending and liquidating the Palestinian cause.
The Israeli "conspiracy" started by "facilitating" clash between the Palestinians themselves and this is what actually happened, and there is a legitimate authority in the West Bank and a group controlling the Gaza Strip. Israel aims to evade responsibility for Gaza and put the burden on Egypt's shoulders to supply Gaza with all necessary fuel, electricity, food and all basic needs, the Egyptian minister said. During the meeting of Arab foreign ministers two days ago, Egypt proposed that the Palestinian National Authority should return to Gaza, but the Syrian Foreign Minister rejected that. Abul-Gheit denied that there is a Turkish mediation to purify the atmosphere between Egypt and Syria. "Reports on Turkish mediation are groundless."
Abul-Gheit described the unity of Arab ranks as a "taut fabric", as it seems that there is an understanding and consensus on agreements, but some stances try to support or defend a particular party on the expense of another.
For his part, prime minister in the Palestinian deposed government in the Gaza Strip Ismail Haniyeh said: "Ending the siege and opening crossing points does not mean that we are seeking to separate Gaza from the West Bank or separate the Palestinian people in Gaza from the rest of the people." He added: "We do not accept to transfer the administrative responsibility for Gaza to Egypt. Nor do we accept to transfer the administrative responsibility for the West Bank to Jordan."
