EU to push for Gaza ceasefire

An EU delegation is in the Middle East to try to broker an end to the fighting in the Gaza Strip

The mission is being led by Czech foreign minister Karel Schwarzenberg, whose country took over the EU's rotating presidency from France on 1 January.

He is being accompanied on the trip by his French and Swedish counterparts, Bernard Kouchner and Carl Bildt, as well as European external relations commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner.

The delegation, which also includes EU foreign affairs chief Javier Solana, has already met the Egyptian foreign minister Ahmed Abdul Gheit in Cairo and is to travel on to Jerusalem and Ramallah for talks with Israeli and Palestinian officials later on Monday.

Today is the key day for the tour, which began on Sunday in Cairo when the Europeans will meet with Israeli president Shimon Peres, prime minister Ehud Olmert and the Jewish state's foreign and defence ministers.

The EU - the biggest foreign donor to the Palestinian territories - is concerned about the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip after more than a week of Israeli air strikes.

French president Nicolas Sarkozy is also on his way to Cairo to push his plan for a ceasefire. There are also reports that Hamas is set to send its own delegation to the Egyptian capital.

A commission spokeswoman said the EU foreign ministers' trip was a concrete example of the involvement of the 27-nation EU in the Middle East.

"We have always said we are an actor in the Middle East and we want to do that," she said. "Us going there is a manifestation of that."

“We are going to discuss the situation," said Schwarzenberg's spokeswoman.

"There is no concrete message yet. We are going to listen to our partners and we will see what we can do to obtain a ceasefire again in the region."

Other European officials said the EU is keen to show leadership as the United States awaits the inauguration on 20 January of Barak Obama as its next president.

The French, Czech and Swedish foreign ministers represent the past, present and future EU presidencies. All 27 EU foreign ministers are likely to discuss Gaza when they meet in Prague on Thursday.

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