Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit Friday called on the European Union to do its utmost to ease the mounting tension between the Palestinians and Israel, reported the official MENA news agency.

Abul Gheit made the remarks during phone talks with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, whose country holds the EU presidency this month.

The talks mainly took up the deteriorating situation in the Gaza Strip, along with the problem of the Palestinians stranded at the Egyptian-Palestinian borders, according to MENA.

Abul Gheit was quoted as saying that it was urgent to make all possible efforts to bring the Israeli military offensive on Gaza to an end.

An end of military operations in Gaza would allow the EU monitors to resume their work at the Rafah crossing, which is located on the Gaza-Egypt border, said Abul Gheit.

The Rafah crossing is previously the only terminal for Palestinians to travel in and out of the Gaza Strip since Israel has closed other crossings.

Citing security concerns, Israel has since June 25 kept the Rafah crossing shut down and the EU monitors were unable to reach it as a result.

The EU monitors have been inspecting the crossing and monitoring traffic since late last year in accordance with a U.S.- brokered agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.

Tensions between the Palestinians and Israel have been climbing up to a dangerous point as Israeli troops have expanded their broad military offensive in Gaza, launched on June 28, in a bid to free an Israeli soldier kidnapped by Palestinian militants and stop Palestinian militant rocket firing.

Egypt, one of the only two Arab countries -- besides Jordan -- to have signed a peace treaty with Israel, has long played the role of mediator between the Palestinians and Israel.

Egypt also maintained good relations with various Palestinian political factions including Abbas' Fatah party and the ruling Hamas movement.

Source: Xinhua