European Union foreign ministers began Tuesday evening an emergency session to discuss the escalating conflict in the Gaza Strip.

Reports ahead of the meeting said the ministers would, among others, examine the chances for setting up a "humanitarian ceasefire" amid the rising casualty figures and ongoing attacks.

France, on its next-to-last day in its six-month term as EU president, had called the meeting after talks between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak.

The EU Commission earlier on had urged Israel and Hamas to put an end to their mutual violence immediately as the fighting showed no sign of abating.

The European Commission is "deeply concerned" by the situation in the Gaza Strip and "calls for an immediate halt to military hostilities that are having a heavy impact on the civilian population in Gaza," a statement said.

Also earlier Tuesday, Mubarak said in Cairo that his country would not fully open its border with the Gaza Strip unless Palestinian Authority or European Union observers were in control of the crossing point. However, he said borders could be opened for humanitarian purposes.