"It is a crucial step required to provide uninterrupted humanitarian aid to Gaza making it possible for Gazans to travel from and to the area freely," Abbas said in Ramallah at a joint news conference with Romano Prodi who visited the Palestinian territories during his Middle East tour.
Prodi said the issue had not been discussed in detail and required agreement from all sides in the Palestinian conflict.
Hamas, which gained control over Gaza following armed confrontations with Fatah, its former partner in a coalition government, is fiercely opposed to any UN contingent and has promised to fight international peacekeepers in the same way it is fighting Israel.
The Middle East Quartet of negotiators - the UN, the European Union, the United States and Russia - was expected to meet Tuesday, July 10, in London. The meeting was delayed, with some negotiators saying the situation with Gaza had to be calmed first. The meeting had been previously postponed in June over the violent clashes between Hamas and Fatah.
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in Moscow Tuesday that Russia was against delaying the meeting. "At the moment we do not understand why the meeting is getting postponed," he said.
Unlike the other members of the Quartet, who have backed Fatah, Russia has insisted all Palestinian factions be engaged in the peace process and said dividing Palestinian territories was dangerous.
The situation in Gaza exploded in mid-June after an ongoing power struggle between Hamas and Fatah, which left many dead and Palestinian lands divided into two parts - Gaza controlled by Hamas, and the West Bank dominated by Fatah.
In an attempt to end an international blockade, Abbas dissolved the coalition government and formed an emergency Cabinet, which received backing from the international community but Hamas refused to recognize the new government and launched the fighting for Gaza.
