Egyptian officials will have talks with a visiting delegation of the Palestinian Islamic Hamas movement on means of reaching a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said Monday.
The Hamas delegation is due to arrive in Egypt later on Monday upon the request of Egypt, the state MENA news agency quoted Abul Gheit as saying.
Egypt has contacted with Hamas on the talks aiming at reaching a ceasefire in Gaza, which has been under intensive Israeli attacks in the past ten days.
The talks between Hamas members and Egyptian mediators are also meant to achieve an inter-Palestinian reconciliation in face of the Israeli offensive, Abul Gheit told the Al-Arabiya news channel.
Earlier in the day, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak entrusted a visiting delegation of European Union top diplomats to convey a message to Israel, urging the Jewish country to "resort to reason and to be more rational," Abul Gheit added.
Israel's military action, aimed at retaliating for Hamas rocket attacks into Israel, has killed over 500 Palestinians and wounded more than 2,600 others since the start of the operation on Dec. 27,2008.
A six-month truce brokered by Egypt between Israel and Hamas-led Palestinian groups in Gaza expired on Dec. 19, 2008.
Source:Xinhua
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