CAIRO: Egypt rejected the Israeli Security Cabinet’s declaration Wednesday to categorize Gaza as an “enemy entity with the major caveat being the consequences on the citizens of the Gaza Strip.
Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit sent a message to his Israeli counterpart Tzipi Livni expressing Egypt’s refusal of this decision and the consequences it may entail.
One of the consequences that worried Aboul Gheit was the effect on the citizens of Gaza especially as the Security Cabinet’s vote to declare Gaza a hostile entity meant that it could now cut off supplies to the strip.
A foreign ministry statement said that Aboul Gheit was concerned that this decision was “imposing collective punishment against innocent civilians in the Strip.
The statement added that Aboul Gheit asked Livni to reconsider the decision especially when there are currently ongoing peace talks and “this decision will have very negative repercussions on the conditions of the Palestinians in Gaza, without necessarily achieving its aims.
The Israeli Security Cabinet headed by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert declared Gaza hostile territory on Wednesday with a unanimous vote as a counter to rockets fired from the territory into southern Israel.
While the cabinet agreed to continue military operations against the strip, it will also adopt “additional sanctions [to] be placed on the Hamas regime in order to restrict the passage of various goods to the Gaza Strip and reduce the supply of fuel and electricity, according to a statement from Olmert’s media advisor. “Restrictions will also be placed on the movement of people to and from the Gaza Strip.
The statement continued that “the sanctions will be enacted following a legal examination, while taking into account both the humanitarian aspects relevant to the Gaza Strip and the intention to avoid a humanitarian crisis.
Human Rights and aid groups lambasted the decision, with Human Rights Watch saying that the vote disregarded all acceptable terms of warfare. “Israel has the responsibility to protect its citizens, but not by collectively punishing the people of Gaza, which seriously violates the laws of war, the organization said.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in the region Wednesday and met with Livni as part of preparations for a US sponsored peace conference due to take place in November.
An AFP report quoted a US official who stated that the US did not have prior knowledge of the decision, and that it had a cast a cloud over Rice’s talks with Israeli officials.
At a joint press conference in Jerusalem Rice said, “Hamas is indeed a hostile entity. It s a hostile entity to the United States as well. Rice also said that “we will not abandon the innocent Palestinians in Gaza, and indeed will make every effort to deal with their humanitarian needs.
In December 2001, the United States designated the foundation a terrorist organization, citing fundraising ties to Hamas. Holy Land’s assets were frozen and in July 2004, a federal grand jury in Dallas Texas brought 42 charges against a host of the group’s leaders.
According to the US government, Holy Land gave more than $12.4 million to persons and groups linked to Hamas between 1995 and 2004, both directly and through “zakat fundraising committees. The charges implicate seven of the group’s top brass, including president and CEO Shukri Abu Baker.
The Brotherhood in the United States is said to have been of great influence on numerous American Muslim groups listed as unindicted co-conspirators in the Holy Land case, including the Islamic Society of North America, the North American Islamic Trust and the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
A banned organization in Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia, the group still remains active in several countries worldwide.
In Egypt, the next session in the highly criticized military tribunal against 40 high-ranking members of the Brotherhood will take place on Saturday.
The detainees are allegedly held on charges including money laundering, terrorism, and “attempts to revive the ideas of an outlawed organization.
Since the arrest of the members in late 2006 and early 2007, civilian courts have acquitted them several times.
Furthermore, several of the detainees including third ranking leader Khayrat El-Shater and Hassan Zalat are reportedly in poor health at Tora prison.
Zalat, for example, was unable to attend the last case hearing because he was waiting to undergo open heart surgery at the prisoner s ward at Manial University Hospital.
Journalists and human rights monitors have been banned from entering the trial numerous times.
