EU's Solana says Gaza force a possibility

BRUSSELS, June 6 (Reuters) An international peacekeeping force for the Gaza strip is a possibility, even though it would probably be difficult for Egypt to accept, the European Union's foreign policy chief said today.

Javier Solana told the European Parliament in Brussels that ''for the first time in many, many years, the idea of an international force'' was not out of the question.

Solana said two groups in the Israeli parliament had said it may be the moment to call for such a force, at least to start with, in the south of the region where the Rafa border crossing to Egypt is located.

''We are working on that,'' he said. ''The Israelis are also considering that possibility, the Palestinians are considering that possibility, the Egyptians are considering that possibility.'' Solana said it would probably be difficult for Egypt as deployment of such a force might give the impression it was not able to control that part of the border. However, he added: ''I think we can still get into discussions on these issues and maybe eventually get a solution.'' The EU's External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner told the same hearing an international mechanism set up last year to provide aid to Palestinians while bypassing the government would be extended for a further three months until the end of September.

She said humanitarian conditions remained ''dire'' and appealed to EU members states to provide additional funds.

The United Nations special envoy to the Middle East called last month on Israel, the Palestinians and the United Nations to consider an international force for Gaza.

Israel has long resisted Palestinian calls for peacekeepers in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, saying their deployment would interfere with Israeli security measures.

But it has signalled flexibility since last year's Lebanon war, which ended with a boosted United Nations peacekeeper force in former Hezbollah guerrilla strongholds.

Israel pulled its troops and settlers out of Gaza in 2005, but cross-border violence has continued and last month it launched an air campaign to try to stop militants from firing rockets at southern Israeli towns.

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