Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Sunday that he wanted to pull his forces out of the Gaza Strip as soon as possible following the ceasefire declarations made by Israel and Hamas earlier in the day, according to Reuters. Speaking on a platform in Jerusalem accompanied by a line of Europe's leaders, Olmert said: "We are interested in quitting the Gaza Strip at the greatest possible speed. "We don't want to stay in Gaza and we intend to leave it as quickly as possible." He met French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the British, Italian and Spanish prime ministers Gordon Brown, Silvio Berlusconi and Jose Luis Zapatero, and Czech premier Mirek Topolanek, representing the European Union. The European visitors, who had earlier attended a summit with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to bolster arrangements for a peace around the Gaza Strip, said they were showing a common front to promote a lasting peace in the region. "Europe is here in strength and that shows that we want to make our contribution," Merkel said, though adding like others that they were also looking to new U.S. President Barack Obama to play a key role in the Middle East. European governments, and much of the European public, was critical of Israel's three-week offensive, in which over 1,300 Palestinians were killed. They called for rapid action to relieve the suffering of the wounded and others in Gaza, including an opening of border crossings from Israel and Egypt. Sarkozy, who had flown in two weeks ago in pursuit of a peace deal to end the war, urged a massive international effort to end the 61-year-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict, suggesting a peace conference: "Let's take the risk for peace."
