News stories by Adam Morrow, page 12

A conference held this week in Cairo devoted to the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip succeeded in raising more than 5 billion dollars from international donors. But some critics say the issue is being used as a means of isolating Gaza-based resistance faction Hamas.

Magdi Hussein, secretary-general of Egypt's suspended Socialist Labour Party, has been sentenced to two years in prison by a military tribunal. Hussein, along with two others, was charged with 'infiltrating' into the Gaza Strip following Israel's recent campaign against the coastal enclave.

Representatives of rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas met in Cairo this week for talks aimed at national reconciliation and the formation of a unity government.

Senior Egyptian officials have indicated that the new demands raised by Israel for ceasefire could affect the peace negotiations between Israel and Hamas being brokered by Egypt.

Egyptian authorities are continuing to prevent humanitarian aid from crossing the border into the Gaza Strip, according to local sources.

Egyptians seem at best only cautiously optimistic over the appointment of Senator George Mitchell as U.S. envoy to the Middle East. Mitchell is mandated chiefly with settling the Arab-Israeli dispute.

Coverage of Israel's recent war on the Gaza Strip by regional news stations has reflected longstanding political divisions within the Arab world. Qatar-based Al- Jazeera's reporting drew a particularly angry response from Egypt.

The U.S. and Israel signed a memorandum of understanding last week ostensibly aimed at combating arms smuggling into the Gaza Strip. Egypt, however, which shares a 14-kilometre border with the embattled territory, rejected the accord as an infringement on its national sovereignty.

Tens of thousands of houses inside the Gaza Strip were destroyed by air strikes and artillery during Israel's recently concluded military campaign. Areas along Egypt's border with the hapless enclave, meanwhile, have not been immune from the devastation.

Street protests against Israel's assault on Gaza continue to be held almost daily. The anger has not ended with the ceasefire called.