As a fragile cease-fire starts in Gaza, the French President and German Chancellor claim that it is time for the creation of a Palestinian state.

Admitting that the task ahead will be a difficult one, Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel said at the end of a summit in Egypt on Sunday that now was the time to speed up efforts for the ultimate goal of creating a Palestinian state.

A summit by European and Arab leaders in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheik aimed at shoring up a fragile truce after Israel's three-week war against Gaza, concluded that the next steps will include a humanitarian summit organized by Egypt in the coming days. They also said that a way should be sought to open Gaza's sealed border crossings to allow humanitarian aid to suffering Gazans.

The 22-day Israeli onslaught against the impoverished strip has killed 1,300 Gazans, including 411 children and 98 women, and has wounded over 6,000 others.

Hamas has announced that it would halt fighting for one week and demanded that all Israeli troops must vacate its territory by next Sunday.

Chief of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, Turkish President Abdullah Gul, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Jordan's King Abdullah II, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Zapatero, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Italian President Silvio Berlusconi attended the summit, which was chaired by Sarkozy and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.