PARIS (AFP) — European Union foreign ministers were set to hold an urgent meeting on Tuesday in Paris on the escalating violence in the Gaza Strip, the French foreign ministry announced.
"The ministers will look into how the European Union can help ease the current crisis, along with the efforts of the international community, especially the secretary general of the United Nations," the ministry's statement said.
The meeting was set to take place at 1730 GMT Tuesday and be chaired by French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner.
Javier Solana, the EU's high representative for foreign policy and members of the European Commission were also expected to attend.
It was likely to be the last major ministerial meeting before France passes on the rotating six-month EU presidency to the Czech Republic on Thursday.
Romain Nadal, a spokesman for the French foreign ministry, said Monday that France and other EU countries were ready to increase humanitarian aid to Gaza , although reestablishing a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas remained a top priority.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy held conversations Monday with his Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak to look for solutions to end the violence in Gaza, a statement from the French EU presidency said.
Diplomats told AFP that EU members are considering a number of options to resolve the crisis, including renewing its observation mission in Rafah, a town that lies on the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip.
The mission, if accepted by both sides, could potentially allow for the easing of restrictions on checkpoints across the Palestinian territories.
Israel vowed again that its "all-out war" to wipe out Hamas was only beginning, even as UN chief Ban Ki-moon urged world leaders to work urgently to end the "unacceptable" violence that has killed at least 360 Palestinians.
In the latest raids, Israeli warplanes carried out at least 40 strikes early on Tuesday, targeting Hamas buildings in raids that killed at least 10 Palestinians, medics and witnesses said.
The four days of intensive bombardment, which has killed several senior Hamas officials and turned into rubble many of the group's structures in Gaza, has failed to stop rocket fire from the territory.
Three Israelis -- two civilians and one soldier -- were killed on Monday alone by rockets fired from Gaza, with one reaching deepest yet inside Israel slamming the southern port city of Ashdod more than 30 kilometres (18 miles) from the Gaza border.
"We will continue this war to the very end," Infrastructure Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer said on army radio.
On Monday, Defence Minister Ehud Barak declared that Israel was in an "all-out war" with Hamas, deputy army chief Brigadier General Dan Harel vowed not a single Hamas building would be left standing, and Deputy Prime Minister Haim Ramon said the goal of the blitz was "to topple Hamas."
Israeli continued to mass troops and equipment at the edge of Gaza on Tuesday, with the border area having been declared a closed military zone -- a move that in the past has been followed by ground operations.
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