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Egypt urges Israel to end Gaza blockade, sends troops

Israel Materials 21 January 2008 16:06 (UTC +04:00)

( dpa ) - Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak urged Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Minister of Defence Ehud Barak to end measures aimed at tightening the blockade of the Gaza Strip, the state news agency MENA reported Monday.

Mubarak urged Olmert and Barak in separate telephone conversations to end Israel's military escalation in Gaza and stop measures that target the Palestinian people in the territory, MENA said.

Earlier, Egypt announced it was sending more security forces to its border with the Gaza Strip for fear that Palestinian militants may storm the border after Israel tightened its blockade of the territory.

The Egyptian authorities received information that Palestinian militants may storm the Rafah crossing, which prompted them to send hundreds of security forces for additional deployment along the joint border with the Gaza Strip, sources officials said.

Palestinians had previously stormed the crossing through holes rammed in the high concrete wall that marks the border with Egypt.

Israel has been tightening its blockade of the Gaza Strip, ever since the Islamic militant group Hamas took control of the territory seven months ago.

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