Turkish pres reiterates Israel should pull out Gaza in Egypt summit

"Palestinians absolutely should form a reconciled government," Turkish President Abdullah Gul also said at a news conference in after the summit.

Israel’s decision to unilaterally halt the 22-day offensive early Sunday "constitutes a positive initial step," Gul told reporters before his departure to Egypt for the summit at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. Â

The objective now is "to ensure that the ceasefire becomes mutual and durable and that Israel withdraws entirely from Gaza," Gul said.

Tackling the humanitarian crisis in the devastated Palestinian enclave and the reconstruction of its infrastructure was another priority, he said.

Asked about probability of deployment of Turkish troops to the region to contribute to peace in the long-term, Gul said it was out of question at the moment.

 Ankara earlier said it is ready to participate in a possible mission to monitor the border between Egypt and Gaza, from where Israel says weapons are smuggled for Hamas.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan also said Sunday Israel’s unilateral halt of the offensive was "important," but stressed that the fact that Israeli forces remained in the enclave was raising concern.

"Israeli tanks are currently in Gaza and... it is not clear how long they will stay," he told reporters. "There are concerns regarding this and Israel should give certain assurances."Â

He voiced hope that the summit at the Sharm el-Sheikh "will be a first step (towards a settlement) and that Israel will speedily pull out its forces from Gaza as soon as possible, that the border crossings will be opened and humanitarian aid will flow to Gaza unimpeded."

Turkey, Israel’s main regional ally, is one of the countries that have condemned the Jewish state for its offensive on Gaza.

But at the same time Turkey has been active in mediation efforts to end the conflict and a Turkish delegation has shuttled between Cairo, where most talks took place, and Syria, where exiled Hamas leaders are based.

WORLD LEADERS PUT PRESSURE

The leaders racing to consolidate a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas pressed for an end to weapons smuggling into Gaza and for the opening of the territory to desperately needed humanitarian aid in Sunday's summit.

The meeting concluded that the next steps will include a humanitarian summit organized by Egypt in the coming days and the search for a way to open Gaza’s sealed border crossings to allow in humanitarian aid.

A unilateral Israeli ceasefire began before dawn Sunday. Hamas also announced it would halt fighting from its side for one week while demanding that Israeli troops leave the territory.

The crucial question left unresolved was how to stop weapons smuggling across the Egyptian border to Gaza’s Hamas rulers.

"We have pledged to help Israel and Egypt with all the technical, military, naval and diplomatic ways to help end the smuggling of weapons into Gaza," French President Nicolas Sarkozy said at a news conference after the summit.

While, acknowledging the difficult task ahead, Sarkozy said now was the time to speed efforts toward the ultimate goal of Mideast peacemaking: the creation of a Palestinian state.

"In our minds, this is the beginning of our journey," he said. "We should continue and we should accelerate our efforts in order to achieve a settlement based on the creation of two states, a Palestinian state living side-by-side with an Israeli state that has the right to its security."

The meeting takes place on the day that Israel began a unilateral ceasefire after a 22-day offensive against the impoverished enclave, although militants have since fired rockets into Israel and exchanged fire with Israeli forces.

Leaders of Germany, Spain, Britain, Italy and the Czech Republic - which holds the rotating European Union presidency - also attended the summit along with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon.

The six European leaders will head to Israel after the summit, where they have been invited to have dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, AFP reported.

Israel launched air strikes on the Gaza Strip on Dec. 27 and ground troops pushed into the enclave a week later, saying its main aim was an end to the rocket fire that had killed 18 people in Israel over the previous eight years.

Israeli attacks killed more than 1,300 Palestinians, about half of them civilians, during the offensive, Gaza medical officials said. Israel said hundreds of gunmen were among the dead. Ten Israeli soldiers and three civilians hit by rockets were killed.