Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Qandil vowed Friday to intensify Cairo's efforts to secure a truce and end Israel's "aggression" in the Gaza Strip.

"Egypt will not hesitate to intensify its efforts and make sacrifices to stop this aggression and achieve a lasting truce," he said at a press conference in Gaza City's Shifa hospital after seeing some victims from the latest Israeli strike.

Saudi King Abdullah has called for reason and wisdom during a telephone conversation with Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi in which he discussed the latest clashes between Gaza and Israel, state news agency SPA reported.

The monarch, whose country is a heavyweight in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, told Morsi "that things must calm down and reason and wisdom must reign over passionate reactions," SPA said late on Thursday.

The International Monetary Fund's extension of talks with Egyptian authorities is a sign of progress on Egypt's loan request, an IMF spokesman said Thursday.

The United States is calling on Egypt to use its sway with the Palestinians to try to end the violence from Gaza, a top U.S. official said Thursday, adding Hamas must stop its rocket attacks on Israel.

"We ask Egypt to use its influence in the region to help de-escalate the situation," deputy State Department spokesman Mark Toner said, adding that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had spoken with her Egyptian counterpart.

Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi rejected on Thursday what he called Israel's aggression in Gaza, saying it threatened to destabilize the region, while Cairo called on the US to stop Israel's strikes.

"The Israelis must understand that we do not accept this aggression, which can only lead to instability in the region," Morsi said in televised remarks, as Israeli air forces pummeled Gaza and militants fired rockets back in a deadly tit for tat.

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi decided on Wednesday to recall the ambassador to Israel after a series of air strikes in Gaza killed a top Hamas militant and six other people, his spokesman said.

Morsi decided to "recall Egypt's ambassador to Israel," spokesman Yassir Ali said in a statement broadcast on state television.

The European Union has approved a 5.0 billion euro ($6.4 billion) financial aid package to Egypt after its economy was battered by a 2011 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak, the EU and Egypt said on Wednesday.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton told a press conference in Cairo the Europeans would "provide additional loans and grants worth about 5 billion euros."

Egypt's Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel Amr condemned the Israeli air strikes on Wednesday that killed a top Hamas militant in Gaza and called for an "immediate stop" to attacks on the Palestinian territory.

Amr, in a statement, warned Israel against any "escalation and its possible negative effects on regional stability."

Four explosions which hit a small Israeli community along the Egyptian border on Wednesday are believed to have been caused by rockets fired from Sinai, an Israeli security source told Agence France Presse.

The incident took place in Bnei Netzarim which lies 1.5 kilometers (just under a mile) from the Egyptian border, and some five kilometers (three miles) from the southernmost tip of the Gaza Strip.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry called on Monday on its nationals currently present in Lebanon to avoid the areas of clashes.

“Egyptian nationals should avoid the areas of tension as much as possible and contact the country's missions if they need any clarifications on the security situation,” assistant minister for consular affairs Ali al-Ashiri said.