Mubarak receives Silvan Shalom

Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak met yesterday with Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom. Following the meeting, Shalom described the audience as having been extremely good.

He said he discussed with the President ways of providing a better life for the Israelis and the Palestinians.

Asked whether he shares Shalom the optimism he expressed following his meeting with President Mubarak, Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher said if Shalom's optimism was motivated by the Israeli decision to respond practically to the Egyptian peace effort, his optimism would be meaningful.

Meantime, "Five Palestinians were killed and 18 were wounded including six children and two women, mostly in serious conditions, in a fresh Israeli raid on Al Salam neighborhood of Rafah City. Three houses were completely destroyed in the incursion. "The chief of emergency ward at Abu Yousef Al Najar hospital, Dr. Sameer Jouda, told in a phone call the Palestinian IPC about the causalities.