Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed AbulGheit on Saturday urged Israel to stop its operations against thePalestinians, the official MENA news agency reported. The hostile Israeli policy against the Palestinian people is notcreating a peace-conducive atmosphere, the Egyptian top diplomatwas quoted as saying.

On Thursday and Friday, the Israeli army killed 12 Palestiniansin the Gaza Strip in raids they said were to stop mortar and rocketattacks on Jewish settlements by Palestinian militants. Abul Gheit stressed that Israel should comply with its pledgeson facilitating the holding of Palestinian elections slated forJan. 9.

Egypt has intensified its traditional mediating efforts betweenIsrael and the Palestinians, trying to take advantage of a changein the Palestinian leadership after the death of President YasserArafat in November 2004.