Germany, Egypt stress need for aid to ordinary Palestinians

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stressed yesterday on the need to provide aid to ordinary Palestinians.

In a joint press conference in Berlin, President Mubarak said: "We've debated the Palestinian issue at great length."

"To me, it's of crucial importance that we ensure the survival of ordinary Palestinians who're facing even rougher times without the generous financial assistance of others," he added. "We have to make sure that mothers can feed their children."

For her part, Chancellor Merkel said: "We also have an interest in making sure that the humanitarian situation does not get worse in the Palestinian territories. Therefore, we have to find ways of effectively helping families there, while at the same time making it clear that the Palestinian Authority must change its position if it wants our cooperation in future."

She added: "Hamas will have to acknowledge Israel's right to exist as an independent and sovereign state, and the Palestinian leadership will have to renounce the use of violence."

Meantime, five Palestinian children were wounded Thursday morning by Israeli occupation forces in the West Bank city of Jenin.

More than twenty military vehicles thrust into the city amid extensive fire shooting at citizens' houses and at tens of schoolboys. The Israeli occupation forces wounded five of them with rubber coated bullets.