Middle East nations condemn Israel's Gaza invasion

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-01-05 00:02

CAIRO– Israel's ground offensive in the Gaza Strip was roundly condemned across the Middle East on Sunday, with Egypt also accusing the UN Security Council of failing to act quickly to resolve the crisis.

Palestinian demonstrators chant slogans during a demonstration in the West Bank city of Ramallah. [Agencies]

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 fighting.

"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.

A Jordanian government spokesman said the invasion "will have dangerous repercussions and negative effects on the region's security and stability" and called for an immediate ceasefire, state-news agency Petra reported.

Foreign Minister Salah Bashir met ambassadors from the UN Security Council five permanent members and urged speedy "international action to end these attacks."

His statement came after Arab League chief Amr Mussa accused the UN Security Council of "ignoring" the crisis in Gaza.

Israel sent tanks and infantry into the impoverished Palestinian enclave on Saturday night after eight days of air strikes and naval bombardment killed more than 485 Palestinians. Rockets fired by Gaza militants have killed four Israelis.

The Security Council announced after the ground operations began that it would hold a special meeting on Gaza. But after four hours of consultation, its members failed to agree on a statement calling for an immediate ceasefire.

The US has said it would not support a ceasefire that would return the "status quo" in Gaza, which the Islamist movement Hamas took over in 2007.

An Arab diplomat familiar with the talks at the Security Council blamed the US for blocking a resolution calling for a ceasefire.

"It's clearly the Americans, it doesn't require genius," he said, adding that the US had blocked a resolution because "the Israelis still need some time to finish their operations."

Washington said it would reject a Libyan proposal for a resolution calling on both sides to abide by a ceasefire because it did not explicitly mention Hamas rocket attacks.

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