Al-Arish, Egypt - Egyptian security forces Frioday found and destroyed 10 tunnels used to smuggle fuel from Egypt into the Gaza Strip, according to a security source.

Egyptian forces also seized huge amounts of fuel and diesel, along with the pipes which are used to smuggle them through the tunnels.

The source added that police would prepare an auction to sell cattle and sheep they caught before they were smuggled to Gaza.

The tunnels were dug by Palestinians to transfer food supplies, goods and even people from Egypt into the besieged enclave.

Amman  - Jordan - an active participant in the search for a Middle East peace and one of the few Arab countries with formal ties with Israel - will face trying times ahead as a new government containing far-right takes office in Israel, prominent Jordanian academics and politicians said Thursday.

Geneva - Israel's recent military operation in the Gaza Strip was illegal and included violations of human rights and possible crimes against humanity, the United Nations expert on the Palestinian territories said Monday.

"To the extent that the combat zone was so densely populated by civilians, it meant that, with the types of weaponry relied upon, there was no lawful way to carry out the Israeli military operations," said Richard Falk, addressing the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Sharm

Brussels/Paris  - The French government on Monday called for an emergency meeting of the European Union's foreign ministers to discuss the crisis in the Middle East, French officials confirmed.

France, which holds the EU's rotating presidency until Thursday, has called for a meeting of the top diplomats of the bloc's 27 member states in Paris on Tuesday to "discuss the EU's contribution to solving the current crisis," a statement said.

Tel Aviv - Palestinian militants in the Gaza strip fired a Russian-made Gard missile at the southern Israel port city of Ashdod Monday night, a military spokeswoman said.

Reports said five people were wounded by the missile, one critically, one seriously and three lightly.

The strike marks the first time a missile from the Gaza Strip has landed in Ashdod, although one rocket fired Sunday landed just south of the city, the furthest projectiles launched from the salient have ever landed in Israel.