Cairo, May 7 (IANS/DPA): Egypt has condemned the Israeli military operations in the Palestinian city of Rafah and its control over the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing, a Foreign Ministry statement released on Tuesday said.

It considered the move "a dangerous escalation threatening the lives of more than one million Palestinians who depend mainly on this crossing as it is the main lifeline of the Gaza Strip".

The Rafah border crossing has been "the safe gateway" for those sick and wounded to get out of Gaza for treatment and for humanitarian and relief aid to enter the enclave, the statement added.

Egypt urged Israel "to exercise the maximum levels of restraint and avoid a policy of brinkmanship that has long-term effects and would threaten the fate of the strenuous efforts made to reach a sustainable truce inside the Gaza Strip".

Egypt also called on all influential international parties to intervene and exert the necessary pressure to defuse the current crisis and allow diplomatic efforts to achieve their desired results.

Humanitarian aid into Gaza via the Rafah border has stopped following Israel's assumption of control over the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing.