Egypt formally seeks U.N. Security Council meeting

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt officially requested on Thursday a meeting of the U.N. Security Council to discuss what it described as Israeli aggression on Gaza, the Foreign Ministry said.

Egypt, which in 1979 became the first Arab state to sign a peace treaty with Israel, recalled its ambassador from Israel on Wednesday after Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip killed Hamas's top military commander.

The peace with Israel has never been warm, even under U.S.-ally Hosni Mubarak, but ties have turned even cooler since the longtime autocrat was ousted last year and Islamists took power.

Egypt's representative to the United Nations called for the meeting in formal letters to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the current head of the council, India's representative, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The Egyptian ambassador expressed Egypt's "serious alarm at the Israeli aggression on Gaza" and described the attack as a violation of international law.

He called for urgent international action, particularly from the council, "to confront this serious situation which threatens international peace and security."

(Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Jon Boyle)