GAZA, (PIC)-- The Hamas Movement appealed to the Egyptian leadership to open urgently the Rafah border crossing before the wounded Palestinians in order to transfer them to hospitals abroad and it also called on the Arab governments and peoples to act immediately to break the siege on the Gaza Strip.

"We call on Egypt headed by its president Hosni Mubarak to work urgently on opening the Rafah crossing because the matter could not be delayed further and the injured need medical treatment and any hold-up could lead to the death of dozens of them," according to a statement issued by Hamas late Friday. 

The statement also called on Arab governments and peoples to take immediate action and to break the siege and provide Gaza with the necessary aid, asking them not to be accomplices in the Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people and not to succumb to external pressures.

The statement called on freedom loving peoples of the world to act before it is too late, to save the Palestinian people from genocide and annihilation and to work hard to lift the siege and stop the "Zionist atrocities".

The statement pointed out that the Gaza hospitals can no longer deal with serious injuries because there are no medicines, confirming that the medical services in hospitals are on the verge of collapse.

For its part, the caretaker government headed by Ismail Haneyya called on Egypt to take a "bold decision" and open the Rafah crossing in order to allow entry of basic supplies necessary for the continuation of life in Gaza and to save the wounded by admitting them in hospitals abroad.

The government called on the Arab countries to shoulder their responsibilities toward the Palestinian people and work to stop the Israeli aggressions and the ugly massacres against them.

A Palestinian woman was killed and more than 46 children and women attending a wedding party were wounded Friday night in Israel's latest air strikes on the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli air raid targeted the former headquarters of the interior ministry and destroyed it completely as well as inflicting considerable damage on 15 nearby houses.