Foreign Secretary William Hague voiced Britain's support for Egyptian efforts to broker a ceasefire in Gaza as he met European Union counterparts in Brussels to discuss the crisis.
Arriving for the meeting of foreign ministers from the 27 EU states, Mr Hague made it clear Britain blames Gaza's Hamas rulers for precipitating the conflict, but also urged Israel to "de-escalate" the violence.
Mr Hague said: "We want efforts to negotiate a ceasefire to succeed. I spoke to the Egyptian foreign minister about that yesterday and Egypt are making strong efforts in that regard, with our support.
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