Selasa 20 Nov 2012 20:47 WIB

Egypt sees end to Gaza conflict on Tuesday

Foto: Reuters/Asmaa Waguih

United Nations (U.N.) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (center) speaks during a news conference with Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby (right) after their meeting to discuss the situation in Gaza, in Cairo November 20, 2012.

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, CAIRO - Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi said on Tuesday that "Israeli aggression" against Gaza would end later in the day, the Egyptian state news agency MENA reported.

"President Mohamed Mursi announced that the farce of Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip will end on Tuesday," MENA said, quoting public remarks made by the country's head of state after the funeral of his sister.

"The efforts to conclude a truce between the Palestinian and Israeli sides will produce positive results in the next few hours," he was quoted as saying. Egypt has been trying to mediate a truce to end the conflict.

Ban and Clinton's visit

Earlier, the U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza on Tuesday and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton headed to the region with a message that escalation of the conflict was in nobody's interest.

Ban said an Israeli ground operation in Gaza would be a "dangerous escalation" that must be avoided. He had held talks in Cairo with Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby and Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Kandil before travelling to Israel for discussions with its leader, Benjamin Netanyahu. Ban planned to return to Egypt on Wednesday to see Egypt's Islamist President Mohamed Mursi, who was unavailable on Tuesday due to the death of his sister.

Clinton was going to the Middle East for talks in Jerusalem, Ramallah and Cairo to try to calm the conflict. An Israeli source said she was expected to meet Netanyahu on Wednesday.

"Her visits will build on American engagement with regional leaders over the past days - including intensive engagement by President Obama with Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Morsi - to support de-escalation of violence and a durable outcome that ends the rocket attacks on Israeli cities and towns and restores a broader calm," a State Department official said.

Nevertheless, Israeli air strikes and Palestinian rocket fire continued for a seventh day. For the second time since the fighting began, a rocket was launched at Jerusalem, triggering warning sirens. Police said it fell in an open area in the occupied West Bank and did not cause any casualties. Hamas's armed wing said in Gaza it fired the projectile.

Israel's military on Tuesday targeted about 100 sites in Gaza, including ammunition stores and the Gaza headquarters of the National Islamic Bank. Gaza's Hamas-run Health Ministry said six Palestinians were killed.

Israeli police said more than 60 rockets were fired from Gaza by mid-day, and 25 of the projectiles were intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome system. The military said an officer was wounded.

Some 115 Palestinians have died in a week of fighting, the majority of them civilians, including 27 children, hospital officials said. Three Israelis died last week when a rocket from Gaza struck their house.