Cairo - Egypt is hosting Israeli negotiator Amos Gilad on Thursday and a delegation from Hamas soon after for talks aimed at turning both sides' unilateral ceasefire declarations into a single, lasting truce agreement.

A member of Hamas' negotiating team told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa on Thursday that a date had not yet been set for further talks between Hamas and Egyptian officials, but that he expected they would take place within the next few days.

Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt - German Chancellor Angela Merkel, attending the Sharm el-Sheikh summit on the Gaza crisis, called Sunday for an end to weapons smuggling into the Gaza Strip.

Sharm al-Sheikh, Egypt  - French President Nicolas Sarkozy Sunday called on Israel to withdraw from Gaza, a day after it issued a unilateral truce which took effect early Sunday.

"There is no need to stay in Gaza. It will offer nothing for Israel's security but will shake the power of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas," Sarkozy told world leaders who are meeting in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm-al-Sheikh to discuss means of establishing a lasting peace in Gaza.

Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak and Sarkozy were jointly chairing Sunday's summit.

Sarkozy extended support to the Palestinian President who was also attending the summit.

Sharm al-Sheikh, Egypt  - World leaders met in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm-al-Sheikh on Sunday to discuss means of establishing a lasting peace in Gaza, as sporadic violence continued despite a unilateral Israeli truce that took effect early Sunday.

Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak and French President Nicolas Sarkozy were chairing Sunday's summit.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon will reportedly attend, as will German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Jordan's King Abdullah II, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero, and Turkish President Abdullah Gul.

Berlin  - A German government spokesman Saturday confirmed that Chancellor Angela Merkel will attend a summit with other world leaders in Egypt to seek a way to end the ongoing Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip.

Other attendees to the summit set for Sunday will include the host, Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

The summit will take place in Sharm el-Sheikh. Merkel is scheduled to travel on to Israel Sunday afternoon after the summit.

Cairo - Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak on Saturday rejected proposals to base on its territory foreign observers to monitor the Gaza Strip, but said his country itslef would instead secure its border with the salient.

"Egypt is exerting all efforts to secure its borders with Israel and the Gaza Strip. It will never accept the presence of foreign observers on its territory. This is a red line we will not allow to be crossed," Mubarak said.