Brussels/Prague - The European Union is to send a beefed-up peace mission to the Middle East in a bid to end the ongoing conflict between Israel and Islamic group Hamas, EU officials said Friday.

As well as Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, EU top diplomat Javier Solana and Foreign Affairs Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and his Swedish counterpart Carl Bildt are set to join the mission.

The Czech Republic took over the EU's rotating presidency from France on Thursday and is set to hand it on to Sweden on July 1.

Originally, EU sources had said that the mission would consist of Schwarzenberg, Solana and Ferrero-Waldner.

Officials in Brussels said that the decision to include the French and Swedish ministers would ensure a smooth handover of responsibilities between the various presidencies.

But observers say that the move also signals concerns in some quarters that the Czech Republic - an EU member since 2004 - may lack the diplomatic experience to broker a ceasefire in the notoriously volatile region.

The mission is aimed at ending the fighting between Israel and Hamas and guaranteeing humanitarian access to the embattled Gaza Strip.

But Israeli officials have already rejected EU calls for a 48-hour ceasefire, while Hamas leaders insist that they will continue to fight as long as Israel bombards Gaza - making it unclear how the mission will be able to fulfil its goal.

The troika's foreign ministers and commissioner Ferrero-Waldner are set to fly from Prague to Egypt on Sunday, while Solana is planned to join them there, the Czech foreign ministry said.

On Monday, the quintet is scheduled to meet Israeli President Simon Peres, caretaker Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defence Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni in Jerusalem.

Then the group is to continue to Ramallah in the West Bank for talks with Palestinian Prime Minister Salaam Fayad.

Contrary to an earlier announcement by the Swedish government, the delegation will not meet the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, as he is planned to visit the United States, the Czech foreign ministry said.

The EU leaders are set to finish their tour in Amman, where they plan to meet Prime Minister Nader al-Dahabi.

The expansion of the mission comes as concerns grow over an apparent clash between Czech- and French-led diplomatic efforts in the region.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who currently co-chairs the newborn Mediterranean Union with his Egyptian counterpart Hosny Mubarak, is also set for an imminent visit to the Middle East.

Sarkozy is due to meet Mubarak in Egypt on Monday, join the EU ministers in the afternoon and dine with Olmert. He is also set to meet the Syrian and Lebanese presidents, officials in Paris said.

"We consider it a bilateral visit by the French president," Czech foreign ministry spokeswoman Zuzana Opletalova said.

Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek on Thursday played down concerns that Sarkozy's visit would overshadow the Czech-led delegation, saying that the overlap was "good".

But it fuels speculation that the French president is reluctant to cede the EU's leadership to the Czech newcomers.

In October, Sarkozy outraged Czech commentators by suggesting that he remain at the helm of the informal group of countries which use the euro even after France's EU presidency ends. Neither the Czech Republic nor Sweden has adopted the common currency.

On Thursday, the day after he handed over the EU presidency to the Czechs, Sarkozy held talks with the Israeli foreign minister on the crisis in the Gaza Strip. (dpa)