In order for any ceasefire to succeed in Gaza it is essential that the Islamist Hamas movement be disarmed, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini told parliament on Wednesday.
Israel, the minister explained, ''cannot accept any truce as long as Hamas continues to build its military arsenal''.
Italy's diplomatic chief went on to applaud Israel's decision on Wednesday to hold a daily three-hour ceasefire in its offensive in the Gaza Strip.
This initiative, Frattini observed, was a first step towards a more permanent truce in the fighting, which is now in its 12th day.
Israel's decision for a daily ceasefire will allow Gaza residents time to obtain much-needed supplies and follows an earlier move to open a ''humanitarian corridor'' to bring food, water and medicines into Gaza.
Hopes that the three-hour truce could be extended were dashed when Hamas fired rockets into Israeli territory soon after the time period expired at 14.00 GMT and Israel resumed its offensive.
Any effort to keeping weapons out of the hands of Hamas and thus set the stage for a more permanent ceasefire, Frattini told MPs, must involve the Palestinian Authority, which was driven from the Gaza Strip by Hamas in June 2007.
''It is clear that this will involve Arab mediation. Perhaps Egypt will be able to convince Hamas, an organization with which neither we nor Israel can negotiate, that it must accept the supremacy of the legitimate Palestinian government headed by Mahoud Abbas,'' Frattini said.
''It would be a great success for Egypt if Hamas allows the Palestinian Authority to control Gaza's borders, fully aware that the aim would be to dismantle its (Hamas') weapons potential,'' the foreign minister observed.
Egypt and France have advanced a proposal for a ceasefire which involves having an international force ensuring security along Israel's borders and cracking down on weapons smuggling into Gaza, mostly from Egypt.
Israel and the Palestinian Authority have given their conditional support to the plan, while Hamas said it was open to discuss it in part but rejected any involvement of foreign troops.
In regard to Italy's eventual participation in such a buffer force, Frattini recalled that it has been part of a European contingent in Rafah, on the border between Gaza and Egypt, since 2005.
Frattini suggested it would now be advisable to make this force an international one with the participation not only of Palestinian Authority but also troops from Egypt and Turkey.
NUMBER OF CIVILIAN VICTIMS IN GAZA ''DRAMATIC''.
Turning his attention to the over 600 victims in Gaza since Israel moved against Hamas after Christmas, Frattini lamented that ''there has been a dramatically high number of civilian casualties. Unfortunately, many of these were not Hamas militants but innocent Palestinian victims''.
According to the foreign minister, ''limiting the number of civilian victims is one of the most important challenges Israel faces''.
Earlier this week Frattini blamed Hamas for the crisis in Gaza and said the movement ''not only violated a truce, it also violated the principle of land for peace''.
The minister added that while Israel ''has the right to defend itself'' from missile attacks on its border towns, ''it also has the duty to avoid civilian casualties''.
According to Frattini, ''the Palestinian people are the real victims of Hamas, which holds them hostage in Gaza''.
