He noted that Israel agreed to grant Hamas a ceasefire but would not withdraw completely from Gaza until a new structure was put in place. On Sunday afternoon, Israeli forces began partial withdrawal from Gaza.

Sunday's international conference in Sharm el-Sheikh involving the leaders of Britain, the Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Germany, Jordan, Spain and Turkey, along with the UN chief Ban Ki-moon, would be crucial in providing the foundation for a new structure for Gaza.

"We look forward to an end to this sad page. We must not lose hope in peace ... because a just and comprehensive peace is the true guarantee for the security of the region's peoples," Mubarak told a news conference, noting the need for a comprehensive deal.

Sarkozy said he hoped the summit would allow them to lay the foundations for peace in coming weeks, noting that the violence in Gaza was part of a global conflict that sorely needed to be addressed.

The aim of the conference, diplomats said, was to investigate options for consolidating the shaky ceasefire by addressing the demands of both Israel and Hamas.

Europe offered both military and technical assistance to help stop the weapons smuggling into Gaza via the Philadelphia Corridor at the Sinai-Gaza border where Hamas have allegedly smuggled in most of its arms.

Britain, France and Germany offered to send warships to the Middle East to help prevent Hamas from receiving arms shipments, while the British navy might also patrol the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to prevent the smuggling.

"I think Israel is in a very good position. The countries in the conference said they will serve the purpose of figuring out how to keep arms from flooding into Gaza and to prevent Hamas from further hostile activity in a way that provides the most security for Palestinians living in Gaza," Rubin said.

He noted that since the framework provided by the conference allowed for the involvement of international players from Europe and elsewhere to help work out a new situation, it would enable Israel to withdraw from Gaza while an international force monitored the region to prevent future hostilities.

"You will definitely get a better set of rules than before based on an international commitment," Rubin said, noting that Hamas would be in a much weaker position should it continue to fire at Israel.

"And if Israel were forced to go back it would be in a much stronger position. What would be critical is Israel's willingness to go back," he said, adding that by lowering its threshold to respond to violence Israel had re-established an important level of deterrence.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon attends an international summit on Gaza crisis in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Jan. 18, 2009. [Wang Wei/Xinhua]