(dpa) - European Union officials and government ministers Monday called for a resumption of peace talks in the Middle East amid reports that Israel and Hamas had agreed on an informal truce.
"The important thing for Gaza is that the violence diminishes and that we continue with the peace process," said Javier Solana, the EU's foreign policy high representative.
Solana was expected to brief EU government officials about his March 2-5 trip to the region during a meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels.
Speaking upon his arrival in the Belgian capital, British Foreign Minister David Miliband welcomed the fact that there had been three days of relative quiet in Gaza.
"I think it is very important to stick to the position that we should work with all those committed to peaceful processes and peaceful outcomes in the Middle East," Miliband said.
His Luxembourg counterpart, Jean Asselborn, said the EU should strongly support Egypt's mediating role "so that the (peace) process has a small, small chance to start."
Monday's gathering was a preparatory meeting ahead of this week's European Council in Brussels, in which government leaders and heads of state were expected to consider reiterating calls on Israel to halt the building of new settlements in the Palestinian Territories.
The EU's external affairs commissioner, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, on Monday called on Israel to reopen the Gaza crossing and warned that "the killing of innocent civilians, whether Israeli or Palestinian, is not serving any purpose."
Ferrero-Waldner acknowledged that Hamas was doing its best to "spoil negotiations" but also noted that the building of new settlements by Israel was not an encouraging sign.
Israeli officials have said that the construction of some 200 housing units in the Givaat Zeev settlement was almost completed and that work on a further 350 would begin soon.
The EU is the biggest donor to the Palestinian Territories, with combined financial assistance offered by the European Commission and by individual member states in 2007 totalling about 1 billion euros (1.54 billion dollars).
"Cutting funds is not a solution, but we must give the population the impression that something is happening," Ferrero-Waldner said.
Human rights groups warned last week that the humanitarian situation in Gaza had plummeted to its worst state since Israel occupied the territory in 1967.
Earlier Monday, reports out of Tel Aviv suggested Israel and Hamas had agreed on an informal truce in their fighting.
Both sides later denied having reached any understanding, but observers noted that the number of rocket attacks on southern Israel has declined sharply in recent days, and the Israeli military has not launched any raids or airstrikes into the Gaza Strip.