Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul-Gheit criticized Israel's "Cast Lead" operation in Gaza on Saturday. Aboul-Gheit also slammed the United Nations, saying the UN Security Council had failed to perform its duty when it did not tell Israel to end the operation.
"Nobody should allow an operation like this to continue for seven days," Aboul-Gheit said. Egyptian officials have criticized Hamas for provoking the operation with rocket and missile attacks on Israeli civilians, but have also slammed Israel for airstrikes in Gaza.