CAIRO: A handful of journalists have been permitted entry into Gaza from Egypt, according to a government offcial. “Two Italians went in on Wednesday and a German went in on Tuesday, Mosaad Badawy, a Press Center spokesman based at the Rafah crossing told Daily News Egypt. The press center, working under the State Information Service, …

CAIRO: Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden urged Muslims to launch a jihad against Israel in a new message Wednesday, seeking to harness anger over the Gaza offensive, and vowed to open new fronts against the US. The White House dismissed the call, saying it reflects bin Laden s isolation and shows he is trying to …

GAZA CITY: Israeli strikes set hospitals, media and UN buildings ablaze on Thursday as tanks rolled deep into Gaza cities even amid hope that the war on Hamas that has killed more than 1,100 people may soon end. Hundreds of terrified civilians, many gripping wailing children, fled the advancing Israeli troops inside Gaza City as …

CAIRO: A series of mediation efforts took place in Cairo Thursday as Hamas and Israel officials met with Egyptian mediators predicting progress for at least a temporary ceasefire in the next few days. Israeli Defense Ministry official Amos Gilad was in Cairo Thursday to discuss the results of talks between Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman and …

CAIRO: Egypt is to pass Hamas favorable response to a Gaza ceasefire plan to Israel, Egyptian officials said on Wednesday, as the death toll from Israel s war in the territory topped 1,000 Palestinians. The announcement came a day before a senior Israeli official is to visit Egypt, which has been at the center of …

CAIRO: Thirty-five members of Egypt s main opposition group the Muslim Brotherhood were arrested Tuesday as they were protesting the Israeli offensive in Gaza, a security official said. Police detained 18 of them in the province of Sharqiya, five in Damietta and 12 in Tanta, he said. Egyptian police have blocked several protests and arrested …

CAIRO: United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon refused to divulge whether Israel had prohibited him from visiting the Gaza Strip 19 days after the Israeli offensive. Asked at a press conference in Cairo Wednesday with Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit whether Israel refused to allow him entry into Gaza, Ban responded, “I will not give …

RIYADH/DUBAI/CAIRO: Egypt and Saudi Arabia said Tuesday they supported discussing the Gaza crisis at a Kuwait summit set for Jan. 19, rejecting Qatar s proposal for an extraordinary summit later this week. However, an Arab League official says that most Arab governments have agreed to hold an emergency summit on the crisis in Gaza on …

GAZA CITY: Israeli troops battled Palestinian gunmen on Wednesday in Gaza, where more than 1,000 people have now been killed in the war on Gaza, and rockets slammed into northern Israel from Lebanon for the second time in less than a week. UN chief Ban Ki-moon arrived in Cairo at the start of a regional …

CAIRO: Diplomats who scrambled across the Middle East on Monday trying to put together a Gaza ceasefire expressed optimism but reported little concrete progress in reconciling key differences between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. Meanwhile, Israel kept up its offensive in the Gaza Strip, with Israeli warplanes pounding the homes of Hamas leaders and …

CAIRO: Arab foreign ministers will hold an emergency meeting in Kuwait on the Gaza Strip conflict later this week, Arab League chief Amr Moussa said on Monday. Friday s meeting will examine the developments relating to Israel s refusal to abide by UN Security Council Resolution 1860 calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, he …

CAIRO: With the ongoing Israeli air strikes on Gaza, European envoys will continue to come to Egypt and the region in an attempt to secure a ceasefire, Miloslav Stasek, the Czech ambassador in Cairo, told a press conference this week. The press conference was held at the embassy premises on the occasion of launching the …

GAZA CITY: Israeli ground troops battled Palestinian fighters in the streets of a densely populated Gaza City neighborhood early Tuesday, destroying dozens of homes and sending terrified residents running for cover as gunfire and explosions echoed in the distance. Israel s push into Tel Hawwa neighborhood was the farthest it has moved into Gaza City …

CAIRO: Leading members of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), including head of the policies secretariat and son of President Mubarak, Gamal as well as Safwat El-Sherif, visited the Rafah border crossing and hospitals in Al-Arish Tuesday. The delegation also comprised Assistant Secretary General for Parliamentary Affairs Mufid Shehab and party media secretary Ali Eldin …

BIRZEIT, West Bank: Diplomacy is the only solution, says human rights expert George Giacaman. However, this diplomacy is affected by the regional and international political scene, whether it’s in Egypt, Israel or the United Sates. In an interview with Bitterlemons.org, Giacaman explained how the Egyptian government has to balance between its role as a mediator …

CAIRO: Envoys of Hamas resumed talks Tuesday in Cairo with Egyptian intelligence officials on a truce proposal to end fighting in the Gaza Strip where the Israeli offensive is in its third week. The talks come as diplomatic efforts have made little concrete progress in reconciling key differences between Israel and the Palestinian group they …

CAIRO: Opposition MPs are urging the government to allocate LE 500 million to provide housing for Gaza residents along the border. Around 35 opposition MPs sent an urgent request to Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif calling for the development of the Egyptian city of Rafah. Muslim Brotherhood MP Saad Al-Husseiny told Daily News Egypt that the …

KUWAIT CITY: Arab heads of state are to hold a special summit on the Gaza crisis alongside a planned economic summit in Kuwait on Jan. 19-20, a Kuwaiti daily reported on Saturday. The An-Nahar newspaper said that the 22-member Arab League had accepted the Kuwaiti offer to host the talks, which came amid spiraling protests …

CAIRO: A recent Gallup poll found that 52 percent of Americans would not urge the Bush administration to get more involved in the Gaza conflict. The poll gauged the views of Americans regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. When asked if the Bush administration should be doing more for the Gaza conflict, 33 percent of Americans said …

CAIRO: While Israeli ground and air operations continue to pound Gaza for the 17th day, Israel chose to remain silent as it faces accusations of illegally using white phosphorus on the civilian population. Despite mounting evidence and witness accounts, Israeli officials continue to deny allegations that they used white phosphorus. Israeli Army spokesperson Avital Leibovich …

GAZA CITY: Israeli warplanes pounded more Gaza homes as ground troops edged closer to the Gaza Strip s densely-populated urban center Monday, in an escalation of its devastating two-week offensive. From downtown Gaza City black smoke could be seen rising over the eastern suburbs, where the two sides skirmished throughout the night. At least six …

CAIRO: Three Egyptians were injured near the Salah Eldin gate at the border town of Rafah Sunday night as a result of Israeli aerial strikes targeting tunnels beneath the border. Two policemen and a five-year-old girl living near the gate were injured. Additionally, two unexploded Israeli bombs landed on the Egyptian side of Rafah. On …

CAIRO: Culture Minister Farouk Hosni lashed out against a recent article published in Al Balagh Al Gadid, a weekly independent Egyptian newspaper, accusing him of communicating with Israeli officials asking them to support his nomination for the UNESCO’s Secretary General position. In a press conference at his office on Saturday, Hosni accused the reporters of …

CAIRO: Israel has intensified its airstrikes on the border between Egypt and Gaza, damaging parts of the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing, sources in the area told Daily News Egypt. The Israeli bombing on the Palestinian side of Rafah has reverberated on the Egyptian side, shattering the glass windows of several homes and causing …

CAIRO: Egypt was holding talks with Hamas officials on Sunday aimed at brokering a ceasefire in Gaza ahead of further negotiations with Israeli officials on Monday, an Egyptian official said. “A meeting is taking place with a Hamas delegation and talks will resume tomorrow with the Israelis, said Ismail Khart, head of Egypt’s State Information …

CAIRO: Independent MP Mostafa Bakry was hospitalized after fainting during a heated discussion about Egypt exporting gas to Israel at a People’s Assembly session on Sunday. Akram Al-Shaer, a Muslim Brotherhood MP, told Daily News Egypt that Bakry fainted after “a provoking discussion with MPs affiliated with the National Democratic Party (NDP) who were defending …

GAZA CITY: Israel claimed on Sunday that an end was in sight to its war on Gaza, amid some of the heaviest clashes of an offensive that has killed nearly 900 people in the Gaza Strip. Israeli troops pushed deeper into Gaza s main city, sparking some of the fiercest battles yet of the 16-day-old …

ATLANTA: Former President Jimmy Carter said Thursday that Israel’s assault on Gaza has been destructive and disproportionate to rocket attacks on Israel but could result in new efforts for a long-term Middle East peace plan. Carter, in a telephone interview with The Associated Press, said although animosity toward Israel in the Arab world “has probably …

JERUSALEM: Israeli jets and helicopters bombarded Gaza early Friday, as Israel’s government said it will press forward with its offensive despite a UN resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire. One Israeli airstrike killed two Hamas insurgents and another unidentified man, while another flattened a five-story building in northern Gaza, killing at least seven people, including …