Iran's supreme leader urges Muslims to defend Gazans

Several lawmakers in Jordan, one of the few Arab countries that has a peace treaty and diplomatic relations with Israel, burned the flag of Israel in the parliamentary chamber to the applause of their colleagues. The act was broadcast repeatedly on Arab news channels.

Egypt has come under fire for its role in sealing off Gaza, with which it shares a border, and for allegedly collaborating with Israel, with which it has a peace treaty. Nasrallah accused some Arab leaders of "asking the Israelis to destroy Hamas."

An editorial in Cairo's semiofficial Al Ahram daily rejected the allegation.

"Egypt's historic and consistent position regarding the Palestinian question and its determination to defend the rights of the Palestinian people were well expressed in the statement made by the presidency which condemned the Israeli attack on Gaza," the editorial said.

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daragahi@latimes.com

Special correspondent Ziad Haidar in Damascus and Noha El-Hennawy of The Times' Cairo Bureau contributed to this report.