Egypt under Pressure to Straighten Position

The Egyptian government is under pressure for its positions with regards to the ‘Israeli' war in Gaza, the closure of the Rafah crossing and the reservation to holding an Arab summit to discuss Gaza.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed and his government came under fire from the Arab media and the public opinion as the the top diplomat sought to justify ‘Israel's' fierce attack on Gaza and put the blame on the resistance group Hamas. He said Israel will not stop its attack as long as rocket firing continues from Gaza.

Meanwhile, Egypt denied access to Qatari aids into Gaza for still unclear reasons. Health Minister in Ismail Haniyeh's government earlier denied Abul Gheit's allegations that Hamas was banning injured Palestinians from reaching Rafah crossing. Bassem Naim accused Egypt of obstructing the arrival of Arab and international aids to Gazans. "Many countries have sent their aids to Arish and Cairo, and they include medical supplies and operation rooms equipment as well as aids sent by the doctors' syndicate in Egypt. However non of these aids have been delivered to Gaza under the pretext of vague administrational procedures especially in these circumstances. Moreover, the North Sinaii Mayor, who is the highest political figure there said that the reason of delay was the lack of an official and legitimate side in Gaza to coordinate the delivery of the aids."

Egyptian embassies, particularly in Beirut, witnessed angry demonstrations demanding Cairo takes an honorable and historic stance to save the Gazans from genocide. At least 310 Palestinians have been killed so far in less than three days of ‘Israeli' aggression.

Abul Gheit arrived in Turkey Monday for talks with Turkish leaders on the ‘Israeli' offensive on the Gaza Strip. He was to hold talks with Turkey's top officials.

Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah Nasrallah urged Egyptians in their "millions" to take to the streets to force their government to open the country's crossing with Gaza, where ‘Israel' is conducting deadly air raids against Palestinians.
"If the Egyptian people took to the streets by the millions, could the police kill millions of Egyptians?

"People of Egypt, you must open this border by the force of your chests," he said.

Abul Gheit said in joint press conference with PA leader Mahmoud Abbas Sunday, that the Rafah crossing was opened to receive the wounded but claimed that Hamas, without naming it, was not allowing the injured to cross.

Hamas firmly denied Abul Gheit's allegations and said that Egypt should also open the crossing for the living. Moreover, ‘Israeli' warplanes bombed Rafah Sunday blocking Palestinian attempts to cross into Egypt.