CAIRO: Egypt yesterdayurged Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in Gaza to halt their escalating conflict but played down hopes of a Cairo-mediated truce.
Egypt, which has a 1979 peace treaty with Israel, played a key role in mediating ceasefires in past wars between Hamas and the Jewish state.
But it has signalled a more hands-off approach in the latest conflict, which comes at a time of mounting tensions between the new government in Cairo and Hamas.
“There is no mediation, in the common sense of the word,” said Egyptian foreign ministry spokesman Badr Abdelatty.
“Egyptian diplomatic efforts are aimed at immediately stopping Israeli aggression and ending all mutual violence. (Egyptian) contacts have not yet achieved a result.” A senior Hamas official pledged that militants would not “surrender” in the face of the latest air strikes yesterday.
“There are no ceasefire talks, in the conventional sense. There are ongoing contacts. The Israelis are not interested in mediation, they are looking for surrender,” said Osama Hamdan, who is based in Beirut. “The situation will clear up in the coming hours. We will respond to this escalation, and Israel might be convinced that the escalation does not help them.”
Egyptian soldier killed in bombing
CAIRO: An Egyptian soldier was killed yesterday when a roadside bomb targeted an armoured vehicle in the restive Sinai Peninsula, medical and security officials said.
Four soldiers were also wounded in the attack near the north Sinai capital of Al Arish, the officials said.
Security forces are struggling to quell an Islamist insurgency that has killed scores of soldiers and policemen in the peninsula bordering Israel and the Palestinian Gaza Strip.AFP
