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Last update - 04:53 02/01/2009
Egypt FM: Hamas gave Israel the excuse to launch Gaza attacks
By The Associated Press
Tags: Israel, Gaza, Israel new 


Egypt's foreign minister said Thursday that Hamas must ensure rocket fire stops in any truce deal to halt Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip, criticizing the Palestinian militants for giving Israel an excuse to launch the bombardment.


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Ahmed Aboul Gheit's comments came as Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, part of a tour by the Turkish leader to work out an Egyptian-Turkish initiative to end the violence.

The initiative calls for a halt to Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip, a return to a Hamas-Israel truce and an international mechanism to ensure the opening of Gaza border crossings. Erdogan met a day earlier with Syrian President Bashar Assad and was expected to head to Saudi Arabia on Saturday.

Aboul Gheit said any eventual truce agreement should include a mechanism to oversee that everything proceeds without one side causes problems with the other. He told journalists that the mechanism could involve international forces or Arab forces or just observers.

Israeli officials have said they want international monitors to ensure compliance with any truce. It was not clear whether the mission of monitors proposed by Aboul Gheit would be to ensure the truce or be limited to observing border crossings, one of the central issues in the dispute over Gaza because of Israeli fears of smuggling of weapons.

Aboul Gheit said Israel must immediately halt its offensive, but he insisted Hamas must commit to enforcing a halt to rockets. "We expect the Palestinian side to say that if a cease-fire is announced, we'll stop firing rockets," he said, warning that some loose group can decide to continue firing rockets and make it difficult to have a cease-fire.

He criticized Hamas, saying Egypt had seen the signals that Israel was determined to strike Hamas in Gaza during the last three months. "They practically wrote it in the sky," he said.

"Unfortunately, they [Hamas] served Israel the opportunity on a golden platter to hit Gaza," he said.

U.S. allied governments like Egypt and Saudi Arabia, which have been critical of Hamas and are worried its control of the Gaza Strip gives their regional rival Iran a foothold. The Israeli onslaught, which has killed some 400 Palestinians since last Saturday, had hiked tempers between pro-U.S. countries on one side and Hamas' supporters, Syria and Iran, on the other.

Egypt in particular has come under harsh criticism for not opening up the Rafah crossing, the only access to Gaza that does not go through Israel. Its opponents accuse Egypt of joining Israel in blockading the territory in an attempt to remove Hamas, which took control in the tiny coastal strip in 2007 in fierce battles with loyalists of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Aboul Gheit repeated Egypt's argument that it cannot open Rafah unless Abbas' Palestinian Authority - which runs the West Bank - controls the crossing and international monitors are present.

He said Hamas wants Rafah opened because it would represent implicit Egyptian recognition of the militant group's control of Gaza. Of course this is something we cannot do, Aboul Gheit said, because it would undermine the legitimacy of the Palestinian Authority and consecrate the split between Gaza and the West Bank.

Aboul Gheit said Egypt had proposed that Arab foreign ministers who gathered in Cairo a day earlier request Hamas allow Palestinian Authority control of Rafah. But Syria rejected the proposal, he said.


Related articles:
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  • Livni: Gaza truce would give Hamas legitimacy
  • IAF strike in Gaza kills senior Hamas political-military liaison
  • Barrage of Gaza rockets strikes Ashkelon, Be'er Sheva, Ashdod
  • Ari Shavit / Israelis who blame Israel are not helping Gazans
  • Poll: Most Israelis support continuing Gaza military op
  • Israel Harel / Like in Lebanon, Israel blinked first in Gaza
  • Amira Hass / Thousands of Gazans near Rafah displaced by IAF bombing of tunnels
  • Olmert: Israel has no interest in a prolonged war in Gaza
    • Bookmark to del.icio.us  
     
    Rockets or balloons?
    The importance of many targets hit by the IAF military is unclear at best.
    Hamas in hiding
    Hamas leaders in Gaza know they have good reason to stay in hiding.
      1.   Role of observers and the Crossing agreement 21:49  |  BamBoo 01/01/09
      2.   If the whole might of the Israeli army wasn`t able to stop.... 22:00  |  Swiss (Dino) 01/01/09
      3.   Ahmet Ebu El Gait 22:55  |  Serdar Kasapoglu 01/01/09
      4.   2Dino Because Hamas et al. are shooting the rockets 22:58  |  Rob 01/01/09
      5.   How about: Would result in more rockets on innocent Israelis? 00:17  |  disgusted american 02/01/09
      6.   # 4 Rob, everybody knows that there will be no peace with...... 00:18  |  Swiss (Dino) 02/01/09
      7.   DINO AND "MIGHT" 00:22  |  Brant 02/01/09
      8.   Swiss (Dino) 00:27  |  vik 02/01/09
      9.   # 4 By the way, I hate to remind you, Robbie...... 00:37  |  Swiss (Dino) 02/01/09
      10.   Finally, a balanced voice from the Arab world 00:47  |  Dan 02/01/09
      11.   11 children died today 02:52  |  Dov 02/01/09
      12.   Dino,while the West is celebrating New Year with family 03:38  |  Izzy 02/01/09
      13.   Abu Gheit proposes an already failed formula. 04:55  |  Fortuna Benmayor 02/01/09
      14.   re 2 Swiss is siking fast 06:16  |  alan the real one 02/01/09
      15.   full story of the war in Gaza 06:20  |  Jack 02/01/09
      16.   15Jack "Full story": Was Hamas task to escalate rockets attacks? 07:19  |  Rob 02/01/09
      17.   2Dino, Furthermore, You would allow a "low level of Qassams" to c 07:20  |  Rob (7th try) 02/01/09
      18.   If it wants a ceasefire, Egypt should open the Rafah crossings 10:31  |  Clickfool 02/01/09
      19.   dov,thats 11 that won`t become jew killing terrorist later! 18:12  |  terrornator 02/01/09
      20.   #11 - Dov the Blind. 18:59  |  Danielj 02/01/09
      21.   Not one rocket 19:01  |  Great White North 02/01/09
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    12:00 ANALYSIS / IDF sending Hamas a message: Now it's personal
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