Egyptian Ambassador to Israel Mohamed Assem Ibrahim on Thursday convoyed a verbal message from Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit to his Israeli counterpart Tzipi Livni.

The message tackled the Egyptian concern over a decision by the Israeli government to widen military operations in Lebanon at a time when the Egyptian diplomacy was seeking to drum up Arab and international support for a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire.

He Ibrahim told the Middle East News Agency (MENA) that the Israeli Foreign pledged to carefully consider the Egyptian message.

She said the war will end when the Lebanese group Hizbollah halts rocket firing into northern Israel.

The Israeli forces will withdraw from southern Lebanon when diplomatic efforts succeed in forming an international force to help the Lebanese army secure the border area between Lebanon and Israel, she said.

The Egyptian ambassador said that the meeting also took up the recent developments in Gaza and at the Rafah border crossing.

According to Ibrahim, Livni said that more than 2,000 Palestinians cross the terminal into Egypt.

The crossing will also open .on Friday for longer hours to allow thousands of Palestinians to cross into Egypt, he added.

More Egyptian Contacts to Settlement Lebanese Crisis
Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit received on Thursday telephone calls from Israeli Foreign Minister and European Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana.

Abul-Gheit also phoned Arab League Secretary General Amr oussa and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan within the framework of Egypt's diplomatic and political efforts to reach a cease fire in Lebanon, said Foreign Ministry Spokesman Alaa EI-Hadidi.

During the telephone conversation with Livni, Abul-Gheit voiced his rejection of widening Israel's military operations in Lebanon, calling for an immediate halt to such operations and saving Lebanese and Israeli civilians' lives, said the spokesman.

Abul-Gheit also warned of the repercussions of last events that would obstruct any understanding between Israel and the Arab nations in the future.

He also stressed the importance of allowing the international community to continue talks aimed at issuing a UN Security Council resolution to halt all Israel's military operations as soon as possible.