Egypt withholds commitment to a US-Israeli pact aimed at halting alleged arms smuggling into the Gaza Strip due to Israel's 'intransigence.'

"We have no commitment towards this memo whatsoever," Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit told reporters on Saturday.

His comments came just a day after US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni penned a hasty agreement in Washington aimed at stopping the 'arms smuggling' into the beleaguered enclave.

Late last month, the conflict between Israel and Hamas-run Gaza intensified into a deadly war that has so far claimed 1,193 Palestinian lives and resulted in the injury of 5,311 others.

The densely-populated Gaza Strip has been the scene of relentless aerial bombardments since December 27, when Israeli warplanes began their devastating sorties. On January 3, Tel Aviv intensified the military assault by pouring ground troops and tanks across the border into Gaza.

Israel has so far ignored Egyptian calls for a ceasefire to allow much-needed aid into the cut-off war zone.

Aboul Gheit explained the main obstacle facing the pact was "Israeli intransigence," adding that the country was "drunk with power and violence."

Rice said Friday that the agreement would pave the way for a 'durable' ceasefire mediated by Egypt, by providing "a series of steps that the US and Israel will take to stem the flow of weapons and explosives into Gaza."

Livni, for her part, praised the US for clinching the 'historic memorandum of understanding (MoU) in record time', saying it would help efforts aimed at 'the cessation of hostilities' between Israel and Hamas.

Cairo has repeatedly insisted that the network of tunnels linking Egypt to Gaza is not a passage for smuggling arms into the impoverished territory, but a means for Palestinians suffering from the 18-month Israeli blockade to obtain food and other necessary supplies.

ZHD/HGH