CAIRO: Egypt's largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, condemned the ongoing Israeli incursion into the Gaza Strip. "We stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people who fight for their nation's honor and pride, said the Muslim Brotherhood statement, "These peoples that are now suffering from a barbaric and an outrageous incursion from the Zionist enemy. The Brothers called on Egyptians to peacefully protest across Egypt. "What happens in Gaza should not slip without any punishment to the Zionist transgressor, Mohammed Habib, deputy leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, told the press. "It is a brutal assault on the rights of the Palestinians, a terror to the women, children and elderly, [and] a breach of international laws, accords and treaties. "These [Israeli] criminal acts would have never happened if the Zionist enemy had been facing a united Arab and Islamic front, on both the national and formal levels. The Muslim Brotherhood faction in Jordan has also taken a similar stance, saying in an official statement to the press that "every leader carries a responsibility [of the Gaza strikes] in front of his people and his nation . it is the responsibility of every person with an active conscience and loyalty towards this nation, of the United Nations and every international humanitarian organization to stop these violent assaults on Gaza and the West Bank. According to the Guardian Unlimited newspaper's Gaza correspondent, "the army fired hundreds of artillery shells at northern Gaza [while] Israeli jets caused sonic booms over Gaza City through the night and morning. On Friday, Israeli forces also stormed the West Bank city of Nablus where fighting erupted. The aggressive military strikes came after Palestinians refused to release Corporal Gilad Shalit, a 19-year-old soldier who was earlier taken hostage by a Palestinian resistance group. Hamas, backed by other Palestinian groups, stand firm despite the continuous raids, refusing to consider the Israeli soldier "abducted. "The soldier was not abducted, said a Hamas representative to Al-Jazeera on Friday. "He is a war captive. According to Al-Jazeera, Mubarak had also said that he had asked Israeli premier Ehud Olmert, not to hurry the military offensive in Gaza, but to give additional time to find a peaceful solution to the problem of the kidnapped soldier.
