BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Italian Foreign Affairs Minister Giulio Terzi has asked EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and others to reopen the EU Border Assistance Mission to Gaza, officials said Monday.

The Italian foreign ministry said in a note posted on its website that the mission should be speedily reactivated in order to help maintain the truce between Israel and groups in the Gaza Strip.

Other international means should be applied in addition to EUBAM to prevent Hamas from rearming through the tunnels, the online statement said, adding that the presence would boost development.

The note called on Ashton to convene a meeting of the international "Quartet" of states to relaunch the peace process "by the end of January," as US President Barack Obama starts his second term.