GAZA CITY – The real issue facing the Arab and Islamic world was not securing a truce to halt bloodshed in Gaza, but ending the Israeli occupation, Arab League Secretary General Nabil Al-Arabi said Tuesday. “The real problem is not a truce. The real problem that the Arab and Islamic countries and all friendly countries in the world must focus on is ending the occupation,” he told reporters on a brief solidarity visit to Gaza at the head of a delegation of Arab foreign ministers. A Hamas official said the Arab League group included representatives from more than 10 countries including Egypt, Iraq, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tunisia and Turkey. As the ministers arrived in Gaza, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi raised hopes that the violence could be coming to an end. But Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev told CNN that a ceasefire deal with Gaza fighters has not been finalized and the “ball is still in play.” “Until you're there, you're not there,” he said. Shortly before, an Hamas official said a deal had been reached during talks brokered by Egypt. But there was a flurry of diplomatic activities Tuesday. President Barack Obama dispatched Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to the Middle East. Clinton hastily departed for the region from Cambodia, where she had joined Obama for a summit with Asian leaders. The White House said she would make three stops, meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in occupied Jerusalem, Palestinian officials in Ramallah, in the West Bank, and Egyptian leaders in Cairo. The United States, however, blocked a UN Security Council statement condemning the escalating conflict. Meanwhile, Israel's air force dropped leaflets across several districts of Gaza City Tuesday urging people to evacuate their homes “immediately” amid fears of an imminent ground invasion. “For your own safety, you are required to immediately evacuate your homes and move toward Gaza City center,” the one-page Arabic-language leaflet said. – Agencies
