Egypt concerned about escalating tensions in Palestine, Lebanon, calls for restraint

By Muhammad Majid and Ibrahim El-Khazen

GAZA - ISTANBUL (AA) - Egypt urged restraint Friday after it expressed "grave concern" about accelerating escalation in Palestine and Lebanon.

“The accelerating and dangerous escalation in the region over the past 48 hours … is a source of great concern,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said in a statement. “All parties must exercise maximum restraint.”

Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, also discussed Friday the latest Israeli aggression with a senior Russian official.

The head of the movement's international relations office, Moussa Abu Marzouk, talked with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov about “the Zionist aggression against the Gaza Strip and Lebanon and the need to stop it immediately, and the ongoing attacks against Al-Aqsa Mosque," according to a statement by the group.

The Russian official expressed "his country's position in support of the rights of the Palestinians.”

The Israeli army launched a series of airstrikes on targets in Gaza and Lebanon early Friday.

Palestinian groups in Gaza also fired a barrage of rockets against Israeli settlements near the Gaza Strip.

*Ikram Kouachi contributed to this report.