Abbas briefs Mubarak on Israeli escalation

Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak received a phone call yesterday from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas who briefed the President on the latest developments of the Israeli military escalation against the Palestinian people.

Abbas discussed with Mubarak the joint Arab moves for halting the Israeli flagrant and grave escalation.

On his part, Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit denounced the Israeli' shelling of northern Gaza on Friday June 9 where more than 15 Palestinians were killed and over 60 others wounded when Israeli gunboats opened fire at a beach in northern Gaza.

Abul-Gheit said Israel's adoption of force in the populated area was banned under international law. The top diplomat urged Israel to investigate the incident and refrain from repeating such acts in the future.