EU said readying plan to restore Fatah-led PA rule over Gaza crossings

In an attempt to break an impasse that has stalled cease-fire talks aimed at ending the fighting in the Gaza Strip, European diplomats are mulling a proposal which would restore control of the Gaza Strip border crossings to the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority, the Times of London newspaper reported in Saturday editions.

According to the proposal, Palestinian security personnel loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas would govern the border crossings with assistance from Turkish and French soldiers who would be stationed as monitors, the Times reported.

Fatah had ruled Gaza until a Hamas-led coup ousted the secular faction, which has long dominated the Palestine Liberation Organization, in June 2007.

Egyptian efforts to broker a Gaza cease-fire appeared on Friday to have to run into trouble because of disagreements with Israel over how to secure the border to prevent Hamas from rearming, diplomats said.

Israeli and European diplomats, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said Egypt had objections to proposals for foreign forces deploying on the Egyptian side of its 15-km (9-mile) border with the Gaza Strip.

Diplomats said an international deployment on the Palestinian side of the border was also unlikely because of objections from Hamas, which has yet to take a formal position on Cairo's ceasefire blueprint.

Israeli officials said their Egyptian counterparts were skeptical Hamas would accept it. Hamas, which is seeking an end to Israel's blockade on the territory, had likewise rejected the presence of international forces.

But a delegation of three Hamas leaders left Gaza on Friday to join the talks in Cairo, the group said.

Instead of foreign troops, Cairo told Israel and the European Union, it was prepared to accept only increased international technical assistance to help its own forces combat arms smuggling through tunnels dug across the border. Israel is demanding the tunnel traffic end as part of a cease-fire deal.

"The truce talks are going nowhere at the moment," said a senior European diplomat involved in the effort. "There is a growing sense that the Egyptian-French plan is not going to work."

Jerusalem has said it will not agree to a ceasefire unless it contains regional and international commitments that will prevent Hamas from smuggling rockets into the Gaza Strip that could strike deeper into Israeli territory.