Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema told Palestinians on Thursday that Rome supports their struggle for a sovereign state but he also urged militant groups to halt attacks on Israel .
"I am here to reiterate Italy's support for the struggle to obtain the creation of a Palestinian state," D'Alema said after a meeting with President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank town of Ramallah .
Progress towards building a Palestinian state has stalled since the virtual collapse of the 'Road Map' to Mideast peace in 2004 .
But D'Alema said that "new opportunities" for peace were opening up in the Mideast and that the international community should make the resumption of the Israeli- Palestinian peace process a priority .
At present Israel is refusing to have any contact with the five-month-old Palestinian government run by militant Islamist movement Hamas, which refuses to recognise the Jewish state .
The situation was made even worse when Palestinian militants from Gaza kidnapped an Israeli soldier on June 25 .
Israel responded to that raid by launching a major ground and air offensive that has killed more than 200 Palestinians in Gaza, about half of them civilians .
Despite the crisis, the situation in Gaza has largely slipped out of the pubic eye amid the war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon .
D'Alema urged Palestinians to heed their president's bid to end violence and to foster the creation of a new government of national unity. "All Palestinian groups must listen to the words of President Abu Mazen," he said, citing the leader's calls for end to rocket attacks, the release of the Israeli soldier and a stop to the "escalation of violence" .
D'Alema, on his first Mideast tour since taking office earlier this year, noted that Abbas, who is also known as Abu Mazen, has the full support of the European Union .
MIDEAST TOUR .
The minister met the Palestinian president a few hours after talks with King Abdallah II of Jordan in Amman and ahead of a meeting in Tel Aviv with Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert .
In Jordan, D'Alema and King Abdallah stressed the need for fresh dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians to help get the Mideast peace process back on track .
They said their countries were committed to relaunching peace efforts .
Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert is reportedly ready to meet President Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, only if the kidnapped soldier is released .
While in Amman, D'Alema also discussed possibility of deploying an international monitoring force in the Gaza Strip. The Italian minister said Jordan viewed the idea positively but that said this depended on the resumption of direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians .
Speaking in the Italian parliament on Wednesday, D'Alema said the creation of a sovereign Palestinian state remained the key to lasting peace in the Middle East .
