Marc Otte, the European Union Middle East envoy told the Jerusalem Post this week that there is "definitely more interest than in the past" for the idea of such a force from the Israeli and Palestinian sides.

"After the second Lebanon War, the sides see the merit in an international security presence," Otte said, referring to the international force in southern Lebanon.

At the same time, he said, "we are a long way away from implementation."

Otte said that the EU was currently "in a listening mode" on the matter, adding: "We must make sure that all the parties are interested."

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni have spoken positively about an international force.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said at last Monday’s donors’ conference in Paris that France "proposes the deployment, when the time and conditions are right, of an international force to assist the Palestinian security services."

Abbas said he supported Sarkozy’s proposal.

"We are working for this to become the international position in the near future," he said.

Livni hinted at a NATO meeting in Brussels earlier this month that the Atlantic organization would have to play a part in ensuring security if Israel were to carry out significant territorial concessions.