By IANS,
Cairo : Describing Israel’s military operation against the Palestinian enclave as a “barefaced” aggression on humanity, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi said Friday that Cairo would not leave the Gaza Strip alone.
“I’m warning the aggressors on Gaza, they can’t have any power over the strip,” reported Xinhua quoting Morsi in a statement made after the Friday prayer.
“Cairo won’t leave Gaza alone, and I’m speaking on behalf of all Egyptian people that Egypt now is different than before,” he added.
Since launching the “Operation Pillar of Defence” with the targeted killing of Hamas armed wing chief Ahmed al-Jaabari Wednesday, the Israel defence forces have struck over 250 targets in Gaza, including caches of long-range missiles and militant infrastructure.
Over 275 rockets from Gaza exploded in Israel since the beginning of the operation, with the Iron Dome anti-missile battery intercepting an extra 105 rockets, according to figures released by the Israeli military.
Earlier in the day, Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Qandil visited the Gaza Strip and slammed the Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip as an “aggression” and called the international community to help stop the violence.
Egypt has started and will continue its efforts to end the Israeli “aggression” on the Gaza Strip, he told reporters while urging the international community to stop being silent and take action to end the violence.
The Gaza Strip is a strip of land on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, bordering Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the east and north. Just 40km (25 miles) long and 10km wide, it is home to over 1.5 million Palestinians.