A German government spokesman Saturday confirmed that Chancellor Angela Merkel will attend a summit with other world leaders in Egypt to seek a way to end the ongoing Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip, according to dpa. Other attendees to the summit set for Sunday will include the host, Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The summit will take place in Sharm el-Sheikh. Merkel is scheduled to travel on to Israel Sunday afternoon after the summit. Sarkozy, Merkel and Brown issued a joint statement earlier Saturday calling for a ceasefire in the region. The Egyptian government has been pushing for a ceasefire based on a short-term "humanitarian" truce, followed by negotiations on a longer-term ceasefire that would address Israeli security concerns and the militants' demand that the borders be opened. However, earlier Saturday, Mubarak also called for an immediate ceasefire. This came after reports that Israel might accept a temporary ceasefire, but retain some troops in the Gaza Strip pending a more permanent solution. Israel's security cabinet was meeting Saturday to consider a ceasefire.
