West, Arabs reach deal on U.N. Gaza truce resolution

By Sue Pleming

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Western powers and Arab states reached agreement on Thursday on a draft Security Council resolution that would call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, Arab and Western diplomats said.

"In principle there is an agreement," Arab League U.N. envoy Yahya Mahmassani told reporters after a day of negotiations. Palestinian representative Riyad Mansour said, "Yes, we have a deal". Several Western diplomat confirmed agreement on the text.

The Security Council went into closed-door consultations on Gaza late on Thursday afternoon but it was unclear if there would be an immediate vote.

Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said the council would vote on the draft on Thursday, but Western diplomats, who asked not to be identified, said the vote could be delayed until Friday.

A European diplomat said France, which holds the council presidency for January, had promised Israel there would be no vote until Friday. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner declined to comment to reporters on the issue.

The resolution "stresses the urgency of and calls for an immediate, durable and fully respected ceasefire, leading to the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza," according to a text obtained by Reuters.

Israel attacked Gaza on December 27 in a bid to stamp out rocket fire by Palestinian militants against southern Israel.

Arab countries, many facing strong anti-Israeli sentiment at home, had insisted the 15-nation Security Council must issue a binding resolution that would force Israel to end its military campaign in the Gaza Strip immediately.

More than 750 Palestinians and 11 Israelis have been killed in the 13-day offensive aimed at halting rocket attacks from Hamas militants on southern Israel.

Israel has opposed the idea of a binding U.N. resolution.

VIOLENCE CONTINUES

The United States had backed its ally Israel but diplomats said it dropped its objections and agreed to back a cautiously worded text.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband and Kouchner negotiated through much of Wednesday and Thursday with Arab diplomats at the United Nations on a compromise text.

As they did so, violence continued on the ground. Israel pressed its offensive, a U.N. aid agency said it was suspending operations in Gaza and a rocket salvo from Lebanon slightly wounded two people in northern Israel.

Libya, the only Arab country on the council, had earlier presented Western countries with a revised version of a resolution it drafted earlier this week.