Brussels – European Union foreign ministers were Wednesday holding dinner-time talks in Brussels with their Israeli counterpart, Tzipi Livni, in a bid to convince her to re-open the Gaza crossings and revive the stalled Middle East peace process.

“We hope we can find an agreement that will make it possible for supplies to get into Gaza,” said Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, whose country holds the EU’s rotating presidency.

His Finnish colleague, Alexander Stubb, said EU ministers planned to deliver a “friendly, but at the same time tough message” to Livni.

“There is no possibility of reaching a permanent peace without everyone getting around the same table,” Stubb said. This means that “no comprehensive solution can be taken without Hamas.”

But despite calls for a common EU position, not all member states share Stubb’s views.

Addressing the European Parliament on Tuesday, Schwarzenberg said no formal contacts with Hamas should be held until the organization renounced terrorism.

For Sweden’s Carl Bildt, it was urgent that normality be restored in Gaza.

“Otherwise, the Gaza situation will become explosive again,” he said.

Officials in Brussels say the most immediate priority is to re-open the border crossings and allow humanitarian aid to reach Palestinians in need.

“We want to see the borders opened, at least for humanitarian deliveries”, since “the population needs food, fuel and water – the basic things,” said EU External Affairs Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner.

“Then, at the right moment, we do hope to come back to the peace process,” she added.

Her comments were in line with remarks made earlier by the bloc’s top diplomat, Javier Solana.

“It is very important that Gaza is opened. And that means opening the crossings, so that the help which the international community is willing to give can arrive to those in need,” Solana said.

The EU’s foreign policy chief said the 27-member bloc was willing to do “whatever necessary” to ensure that the ceasefire is maintained, including sending monitors to a number of border crossings in the Gaza Strip.

The EU maintained a small monitoring team at the Rafah crossing between 2005 and 2007, when it had to be withdrawn after Hamas violently seized sole control of the coastal enclave.

Some 40 EU monitors are currently on standby in Ashkelon, in Israeli territory, ready to be re-deployed again.

“We have said we are ready to return to Rafah and even to extend (the monitoring mission), if that is agreed by the parties,” Solana said.

The talks in Brussels came a day after UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon became the highest-ranking foreign official to visit Gaza and assess first hand the damage caused by the three-week conflict with Israel.

Brussels diplomats say they have also been in close contact with US President Barack Obama, who earlier Wednesday called four key Middle East leaders to promise his engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process right from the start of his term.

EU foreign ministers were to hold a separate talks in Brussels on Sunday with representatives and top officials from Egypt, Jordan, Turkey and the Palestinian Authority. (dpa)