Sunday, 4 January 2009
Nine days after the beginning of IDF Operation Cast Lead targeting Hamas, the leaders of the only two Arab countries to have peace treaties with Israel condemned Israel's ground operation in the Gaza Strip.
The office of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Sunday warned Israel of the consequences of the invasion and said it places the responsibility on Israel for any civilians that are killed or wounded.
Meanwhile, Jordan's King Abdullah II also repeated his call on Sunday for Israel to halt its attacks on Gaza.
The official Petra news agency said the king told Middle East peace envoy Tony Blair in a telephone conversation that Israel won't achieve security through its "aggression."
In the West Bank, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas also denounced Israel's ground offensive as "brutal aggression," his harshest words yet in describing Israel's assault on his Hamas rivals in Gaza.
On Monday, Abbas is heading to the United Nations headquarters in New York.
Abbas said his offer to Hamas to start talks on sharing power still stands after the terror group ignored a similar invitation last week.
The PA president on Sunday said the situation has become unbearable and that "national unity is the most important thing to us."
Meanwhile, in Beirut, police forces fired tear gas at some 250 demonstrators who were protesting Israel's ground attack on the Gaza Strip, when they tried to reach the US Embassy compound.
The officials said the demonstrators tried to cut through barbed wire placed by Lebanese police on a road leading to the US Embassy in the northern suburb of Aukar.
Police forces first tried to stop the demonstrators by using water hoses before firing several tear gas grenades.
The officials said no injuries were reported during Sunday's clashes.
