Egypt: Israel wants to 'dump' Gaza on us Egyptian President Mubarak meets with PA President Abbas to discuss efforts to lift Gaza blockade; Cairo rejects Israeli proposal to make Gaza dependent on it for goods and access.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak discussed efforts to lift the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, at a meeting with his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas.
Egypt reopened its border with the Gaza Strip following the deadly raid on a flotilla of Gaza-bound aid boats by Israeli forces in May.
Mubarak's government on Tuesday rejected an Israeli proposal that would leave Gaza entirely dependent on Egypt for goods and access.
"This kind of talk confirms what we have been saying for years, which is that there is official Israeli thought which aims to evade responsibility for the Gaza Strip and dump it on Egypt," a spokesperson for the foreign ministry in Cairo said.
Under the proposal, Israel would close all of its land crossings into Gaza, leaving the blockaded enclave completely dependent on Egypt for the movement of people and goods.
Israel and Egypt have maintained a blockade on the Gaza Strip since Hamas took control of the area in 2007. Occasionally, Egypt has opened the Rafah border for three or four-day periods.