A number of European and Mideast leaders wrapped up an international summit hosted by Egypt on the situation of the Gaza Strip on Sunday afternoon, pressing for parties concerned to consolidate a fragile ceasefire in the Palestinian enclave.

The international conference on Gaza, co-chaired by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy, was attended by a number of European leaders, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa as well as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

"Today could be the start of the end of the Gaza crisis," Mubarak said at a press conference following the summit in the Egyptian Red Sea resort, adding that "We should push forward the march of peace."

During his address at the opening session, Mubarak said "it seems a breakthrough has been achieved since Saturday," referring to the unilateral ceasefire announcement by Israel on Saturday night.

The declaration of ceasefire came shortly after Israeli security cabinet voted in favor of a unilateral ceasefire in Gaza, where Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Cast Lead Operation had been going on in the past three weeks, killing more than 1,300 Palestinians.

"We have reached all of our objectives in Gaza," said Olmert at a press conference in Tel Aviv, adding that Hamas has been dealt a heavy blow in the Israeli operation.

At the end of the Egyptian-hosted summit, both French and British leaders urged Israel to pull out its troops from Gaza to reach a lasting peace there.

Sarkozy, who was in his third visit to Egypt on the Gaza crisis in the past two weeks, said Israeli troops should promise to leave Gaza if rocket firing by Palestinian militants was stopped.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown also urged Israel to withdraw its soldiers from Gaza and Palestinian militants to stop firing rockets against Israel.

For his part, UN chief Ban Ki-moon said the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip should become a durable and lasting truce.

The Israeli unilateral ceasefire "should become a durable and lasting one," Ban said at the press conference, adding "Hamas must stop firing rocket (against Israel)."

Meanwhile on Sunday, exiled deputy chief of Hamas' politburo Mussa Abu Marzouk announced in Syria a one-week ceasefire in Gaza to allow Israeli soldiers to pull out.

The Palestinian movements "are ready to cooperate with any efforts, especially those of the Egyptians, Turks, Syrians and Qataris, to reach an agreement that meets our known demands, which are a permanent lift of the blockade and the opening of all the crossing points, including the Rafah crossing," said Marzouk.

Earlier in the day, Hamas, the Islamic Jihad (Holy War) and some other Palestinian factions as well as their armed wings also announced in Gaza they accepted a ceasefire with Israel and give Israel a one-week ultimatum to end its military occupation in the Strip.

Another major issue discussed in the Egyptian summit is how to relieve the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Looking forward to the efforts of the international community, particularly from the UN, Mubarak said his country would host an international conference to rebuild Gaza.

Brown said the ceasefire in Gaza should be followed by moves of humanitarian access to the people living in the coastal strip.

More than 1,300 Palestinians have been killed and over 5,500 wounded, more than half of them civilians, in the past 23 days of Israeli attacks.

Ban said he would soon dispatch a delegation of donor countries and aid agencies into Gaza to evaluate the damage and help meet the needs of the Palestinians affected by the conflict.

(Xinhua News Agency January 19, 2009)