The Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak presented Tuesday night a ceasefire plan for the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

After meeting with his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy in Cairo, Mubarak said Egypt's plan for talks between leaders of Israel and "Palestinian factions" would aim to avoid escalation of the conflict, to secure the Gaza Strip borders, and to open them for humanitarian relief efforts.

Mubarak's proposal has gained support among UN Security Council members, CNN reported. At the same time, it is not entirely clear what role Hamas was going to play in the talks, and its potential participation might make Israel unwilling to take part in the initiative.

In an interview for CNN, Syria's President Bashar Al-Assad, who met with Sarkozy earlier on Tuesday, said Hamas was prepared to strike a deal with Israel if the latter stopped its military operations in Gaza.

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