CAIRO: Egypt on Tuesday condemned Israeli forces for killing nine Palestinians and also called on the Palestinians to refrain from firing rockets into Israel, saying that would give the Jewish state an excuse to attack. Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit called on the Palestinian side not to do anything that the enemies of peace ... could exploit, such as the firing of rockets, which leads to giving the Israeli side an excuse for aggressive actions against the Palestinian people, a Foreign Ministry statement said. But the statement appeared to have been drafted before Hamas s armed wing on Tuesday declared an end to a five-month-old ceasefire, firing rockets into Israel from the Gaza Strip after Israel forces killed the nine Palestinians. Hamas blamed Israel for the breakdown in the truce but stopped short of formally declaring it over. At least five of the Palestinians kills were militants. Israel said two of them were wanted over their involvement in planning attacks that included attempted suicide bombings in Israel. Aboul Gheit criticized what he said was an Israeli escalation, coming as it did shortly after a summit in Riyadh relaunched an Arab peace initiative aimed at normalizing relations with the Jewish state in exchange for a return of occupied Arab land. All the Arabs are reaching out for peace with Israel, the statement cited Aboul Gheit as saying. Aboul Gheit called on Israelis and Palestinians to share responsibility to avoid further escalations and called for an immediate end to Israeli incursions. He also called on the Quartet peace mediators to press Israel to take steps towards a credible peace process, ultimately leading to the creation of a Palestinian state.
