CAIRO (Agencies)
Israel's ground offensive in the Gaza Strip was roundly condemned across the Middle East on Sunday, with Egypt also accusing the U.N. Security Council of failing to act quickly to resolve the crisis.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said Israel's incursion into the impoverished territory on Saturday night came in "brazen defiance" of international calls to end the offensive it began with air strikes on Dec. 27.
"The Security Council's silence and its failure to take a decision to stop Israel's aggression since it began was interpreted by Israel as a green light," he said in a statement as Israeli forces rumbled into Gaza.
"Egypt condemns in the strongest possible terms the beginning of Israel's ground operations in the Gaza Strip and the invasion of the territory by its forces," the statement said.
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Dangerous repercussions " The Security Council's silence and its failure to take a decision to stop Israel's aggression since it began was interpreted by Israel as a green light, " Egyptian FM Ahmed Abul Gheit "Egypt once again calls upon Israel to end its aggression immediately and without preconditions, and calls upon the United Nations Security Council and Quartet to swiftly fulfill their responsibility without delay to end the Israeli aggression," the state news agency MENA quoted Foreign Minister Abul Gheit as saying in the statement.
Egypt called on the Security Council and the Quartet to confront the humanitarian consequences of the attack on the Palestinians, and said Israel must be compelled to live up to its responsibilities as an occupying power.
A Jordanian government spokesman said the invasion "will have dangerous repercussions and negative effects on the region's security and stability," state-news agency Petra reported.
Foreign Minister Salah Bashir met ambassadors from the U.N. Security Council five permanent members and urged speedy "international action to end these attacks."
His statement came after Arab League chief Amr Moussa accused the U.N. Security Council of ignoring the crisis in Gaza. |
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Mideast press " Bush "who started his first presidential mandate with wars of occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan and ends his (White House) days welcoming the spilling of Palestinian blood. " Saudi press Since the start of the assault newspapers across the Middle East have closely watched as the events unfold.
In Lebanon, which suffered its own bloody Israeli onslaught in 2006, the al-Anwar daily said "Israel is in a bind. It started a war but doesn't know how to finish. It's afraid of a repeat of its war in Lebanon."
With the possibility of Hezbollah -- Israel's target in 2006 -- getting involved in a conflict on Israel's northern border, the al-Nahar daily warned that "a protracted war could lead to other terrifying possibilities, for Lebanon and the region."
Gulf newspapers slammed Washington's "protection of Israel" at the U.N. which has "prevented any international dissuasive (action) and the possibility of imposing a ceasefire," wrote the Emirati al-Bayan daily.
Saudi's al-Riyadh attacked U.S. President George W. Bush "who started his first presidential mandate with wars of occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan and ends his (White House) days welcoming the spilling of Palestinian blood."
The Israeli press backed the ground offensive and its "limited" objectives, but looked to diplomatic ways of ending the conflict at the appropriate time.
"This is not a 'ground operation' but a real war, a war to defend our homes and lives," wrote the mass-circulation Yediot Aharonot. |
