PARIS: French President Nicolas Sarkozy hosted Egypt s President Hosni Mubarak on Monday amid preparations for an aid conference for the Gaza Strip and diplomatic efforts for a more durable truce in the Palestinian territory.
The two leaders helped push Israel toward ending a devastating three-week offensive in Gaza last month meant to halt years of rocket fire on southern Israeli communities. Gaza s Hamas rulers announced their own cease-fire the same day.
But renewed scattered violence is straining the truce. Two rockets struck southern Israel on Sunday, and an Israeli tank shell struck a house and killed a man Monday in the northern Gaza Strip.
Egypt is hosting an aid conference March 2 meant to raise money for rebuilding Gaza, after the offensive shattered infrastructure in the already impoverished territory.
That conference and overall diplomatic efforts for the Middle East were expected to be the focus of Mubarak s talks with Sarkozy on Monday.
The talks come as Israel prepares for elections this week whose results are likely to weigh heavily on any diplomatic solutions for the region.
Mubarak was to leave France later Monday for Italy, and was later scheduled to go to Turkey.
Sarkozy traveled to the Middle East twice during the Gaza offensive and met or spoke frequently with Mubarak, who has spearheaded diplomatic efforts. Sarkozy has sought to bring France s traditional ties with the Arab world and renewed friendly ties with Israel to bear on delicate diplomacy in the region. -AP
