Egypt Calls for 'Immediate Stop' to Israeli Attacks

Egypt's Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel Amr condemned the Israeli air strikes on Wednesday that killed a top Hamas militant in Gaza and called for an "immediate stop" to attacks on the Palestinian territory.

Amr, in a statement, warned Israel against any "escalation and its possible negative effects on regional stability."

President Mohamed Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood movement, meanwhile, urged Arabs to boycott Israel, while the movement's Freedom and Justice Party warned that Egypt would no longer stand by as Palestinians come under attack.

The FJP said the air strikes that killed top militant Ahmed al-Jaabari in Gaza required "swift Arab and international action to stop the massacres."

Israel "must take into account the changes in the Arab region and especially Egypt," it said. Egypt "will not allow the Palestinians to be subjected to Israeli aggression, as in the past."

President Hosni Mubarak, overthrown in early 2011, was criticized by his opponents over his response to a devastating Israeli assault on Gaza in December 2008-January 2009 following rocket fire by Palestinian militants.

Morsi, a vociferous supporter of the Palestinians before his election triumph in June, had been expected to lift a blockage of the Gaza Strip which borders Egypt, but his government has backed off from his pledges.

The Brotherhood, which which has close ties with Hamas, called for an "economic boycott" and a public awareness campaign "to support the choice of resistance."