Cairo Threatens Gazans With Broken Bones

UNITED NATIONS — Egypt's foreign minister, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, echoing a much-maligned Israeli vow to use force against Palestinian Arab rebellion, said yesterday his country would break limbs of Gaza residents who cross the border to Egypt illegally.

"Anyone who violates Egypt's borders will get his leg broken," Mr. Aboul Gheit told the state-run news agency. While Cairo's limb-breaking threat yesterday received few denunciations outside the small circle of Hamas politicians who control Gaza, there was worldwide condemnation of the late Yitzhak Rabin when, as Israel's defense minister in 1989, he vowed to "break their bones" when Palestinian Arabs launched a violent uprising known as the first Intifada,

The mute reaction was emblematic of recent changes in the Arab world's attitude toward Hamas despite the public anger expressed in Arab capitals last month against Israel as it lowered the quantities of fuel delivered to Gaza, leading to a temporary power outage. At the United Nations, diplomats say that Egypt, Jordan, and the Palestinian Arabs seemed more concerned in recent closed-door consultations about giving a boost to Hamas than about denouncing Israel.

Mr. Aboul Gheit ridiculed Hamas yesterday, calling its campaign of rocket attacks against Israel from Gaza a "laughable caricature." He also blamed Israel for the suffering in Gaza, and termed its military response to Hamas rocket attacks "collective punishment."

An Israeli anti-terror unit entered Gaza yesterday, killing six combatants, as a dozens rockets were shot into Israel's western Negev region from Gaza. The Israeli army later unveiled a new generation of remote control rockets that were seized in yesterday Gaza raid. The rockets, which can be launched from underground, well camouflaged areas, resembled similar weapons used by the Lebanon-based Hezbollah. Israeli and Palestinian Arab sources said in recent days that advanced weapons were smuggled into Gaza after its border with Egypt near the town of Rafah was broken.

Israel yesterday allocated funds for building a new fence on its border with Egypt, and announced it would cut by 1% the amount of electricity it supplies to Gaza. Israel supplies the bulk of Gaza electricity — up to 126 megawatts — while self-production in Gaza is responsible for 65 megawatts, and Egypt supplies 17 megawatts.

"We are not interested in creating a humanitarian crisis in Gaza," Israel's foreign ministry spokesman, Arye Mekel, told The New York Sun. Israel wants Gazans to be more independent and to be responsible for their own power production, the deputy defense minister, Matan Vilnai, added.