"The focus should be on building up functioning, capable, responsible Palestinian security forces that are capable of functioning" in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.

Militants from Islamist Hamas overran Fatah forces loyal to the moderate Abbas in Gaza on June 15, effectively splitting the Palestinians into two entities, with the the president controlling the West Bank and Hamas running Gaza.

Abbas said Tuesday that an international force in the Gaza Strip could guarantee the delivery of humanitarian aid and allow free movement of people but his call threatened to further widen the yawning Palestinian chasm, as Hamas is against any foreign troop presence in Gaza.

McCormack said that while Abbas' proposal would have to be studied, "I'm not sure that you're going to find too many forces willing to go into what I expect is a nonpermissive environment."

"I'm not sure it's gotten a lot of traction at this point. But, look, if serious people come up with ideas and they float them, of course we'll take a look at them," he added.

European foreign ministers from 10 Mediterranean countries have said they were seeking to create an international force to police the Palestinian territories, like those of NATO or the UN.

They made the proposal in an open letter to former British prime minister Tony Blair -- recently-named special envoy for the diplomatic quartet pushing for Middle East peace -- released by the Slovenian foreign ministry Monday.

The ministers were from Bulgaria, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and Romania.

Stressing the need for an effective Palestinian security force, McCormack said "that's really where the main weight of our focus is and the main weight of our effort.

Following the Gaza takeover by Hamas, whose charter calls for the destruction of the Jewish state, Israel closed off the overcrowded territory, although it has allowed limited humanitarian aid to enter.

The closure has sparked warnings of a humanitarian crisis in the territory, one of the most densely populated places on earth where more than 80 percent of the 1.5 million residents depend on aid.