Cairo: Egypt's president proposed a plan for ending the fighting in Gaza, including a call for an immediate cease-fire between Palestinian militants and Israel.
The proposal from Hosni Mubarak came at a news conference yesterday at the Red Sea resort Sharm-el-Sheik with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has been travelling around the region to try to mediate the violence which has seen atleast 600 people killed in the past 11 days.
Mubarak's plan calls for a cease-fire for a limited period of time designed to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, an urgent meeting between both Israel and the Palestinians to discuss ways to prevent further military action and reasons for the conflict including lifting the blockade of Gaza.
He also once again called on the Palestinian Authority, under the control of President Mahmoud Abbas, and Palestinian factions to renew reconciliation talks; the Palestinian territories have been split between the West Bank under Abbas and the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
Mubarak did not specifically mention the militant group Hamas by name, but a Hamas delegate who came to Cairo for talks with the Egyptians yesterday said the group would take the proposal back to its Damascus, Syria headquarters for discussion. The delegate did not want to be named due to the sensitivity of the discussions.
The Egyptian leader said he was offering the proposal in order to end the fighting on the Gaza Strip, where Egypt has in the past played a mediator role including helping bring about a six-month truce between Hamas and Israel which expired in December just before the recent violence began.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, said during the news conference that there is a "small hope" for an end to the Gaza violence.
