French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius on Sunday said that securing a ceasefire for the Gaza Strip and preventing an escalation of the latest outbreak of hostilities between Israel and the Palestinians was top priority for France, Reuters reported. "In Gaza and Israel the absolute priority is a ceasefire," Fabius told reporters ahead of a side discussion on the latest outbreak of hostilities in Gaza with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, British Foreign Secretary William Hague and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. "In this context of a dangerous escalation, France asks for a return to the 2012 ceasefire," he added.