Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit Thursday renewed his denunciation on Israel's killing of 18 Palestinians in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun when meeting with his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud al-Zahar, Egypt's official news agency MENA reported.

In talks with al-Zahar, who is on a visit in Cairo, Abul Gheit expressed condolences over the victims of Beit Hanoun carnage, saying that Egypt fully supported Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Hamas-led government and the Palestinian people during this critical period.

Israel's operations could not be justified under any pretext, said Abul Gheit, who made a strong-worded statement on Wednesday to condemn Israel's killing of Palestinians.

Abul Gheit urged all Palestinian parties to put aside their differences which only served Israel and to consider the Palestinian blood a red line that should not be crossed.

Abul Gheit was also briefed by al-Zahar on the running consultations in Palestinian territories to form a national unity government.

He stressed the need to accelerate the formation of this government to unify Palestinian ranks and to work on lifting the siege imposed on the Palestinians.

Abul Gheit also spoke of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's instructions to the Egyptian government to take all measures necessary to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza.

He said, Egypt is hosting the injured Palestinians in Beit Hanoun shelling on Mubarak's instructions, adding some 19 wounded Palestinians have been admitted to Nasser Institute Hospital in the Egyptian capital Cairo.

It is part of Egyptian efforts to alleviate the Palestinians' suffering caused by the incessant Israeli aggression, MENA quoted Abul Gheit as saying.

The Israeli artillery barrage ripped through a cluster of houses in the northern Gaza town at dawn on Wednesday, killing at least 18 civilians, mostly women and children.

The attack was the deadliest on Palestinian civilians in the past several years, prompting a wave of strong censure across the Arab world and the international community.

Source: Xinhua