Rice presses Israel on Gaza ceasefire proposal

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Wednesday she had pressed Israel to seriously consider an Egyptian ceasefire plan as the U.N. Security Council weighed action to end Israel's attack on Gaza.

Rice spoke by telephone on Wednesday to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and said she had detailed discussions with them on the conditions on the ground in Gaza as well as the Egyptian initiative.

"We're supporting that initiative. I've been in very close discussions with my Arab colleagues but also with the Israelis about the importance of moving that initiative forward," she said.

The plan offered by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak seeks to end the 12-day offensive that Israel launched with the declared aim of suppressing rocket fire from Hamas Islamist militants on its southern towns.

In Israel, officials said they accepted the "principles" of the proposal, but the details needed to be worked out.

Rice said she had also spoken to the Israelis about the need for a pause in violence, as happened on Wednesday, to allow for humanitarian aid to get through.

"That needs to be repeated again and again," she said of the three-hour truce.

Rice, who extended her visit to New York, also sought to convince Arab ministers at the United Nations there was no need to move ahead with a Libyan-drafted resolution which the United States and others view as strongly anti-Israeli.

Foreign ministers from Britain, France and the United States held several meetings with their Arab colleagues and proposed a more muted U.N. Security Council statement rather than a binding resolution to end the violence.

A text drafted by the three Western powers spoke of an "urgent need for an immediate and durable ceasefire" and voiced strong concern over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

The statement also welcomed the Egyptian and French mediation and encouraged "all actors" to support those efforts.

"The Security Council expresses its grave concern at the deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza and calls for immediate and full humanitarian access," the draft said.

SAUDI OPPOSITION

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said he wanted a vote on the Libyan resolution and complained about lack of U.N. action so far.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said he saw the "first glimmerings" of a ceasefire. "But it's far too early to say we can get a breakthrough," Miliband told Sky News from the United Nations, where he met Rice to discuss how to proceed.

A U.S. official traveling with Rice made clear there were some differences with the Egyptian initiative but that Washington was particularly supportive of Egypt's efforts to work with the Israelis.

"Some of the specifics on an immediate ceasefire are not consistent with what we were laying out," said a U.S. official, adding that the United States wanted a "durable and sustainable" ceasefire without any time limit.

The Egyptian plan, partly brokered by France, calls for an end to the rocket attacks on Israel, the opening of Gaza border crossings and an end to weapons smuggling into Gaza.

More than 650 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed since the Israeli offensive began last month, according to medical officials. Ten Israelis, including three civilians hit by rocket fire, have been killed.

(Additional reporting by Claudia Parsons, Patrick Worsnip and Louis Charbonneau; Editing by Alan Elsner and Eric Walsh)