France pushes for Gaza truce at U.N.

By Louis Charbonneau

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - France stepped up its push for a ceasefire in Gaza by drafting a U.N. Security Council resolution on Monday demanding a truce but Israel vowed to continue military action until Hamas stops firing rockets.

Discussions between French, Arab and other Western U.N. delegations at the United Nations intensified as Israeli forces continued to pound Gaza in an offensive to halt Hamas rocket fire against southern Israel from the Palestinian territory.

Diplomats said the French draft resolution would include elements that Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki and Arab League chief Amr Moussa described after meeting with Arab ministers and diplomats -- and U.N. officials -- in New York.

Malki told reporters that Arab countries wanted a resolution demanding an immediate end to "Israeli aggression" in Gaza and calling for the deployment of international monitors who would police any ceasefire agreement.

Moussa also said the Arabs did not want to explicitly condemn Hamas militants, whose rocket attacks Israel and the United States say sparked the present crisis.

Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert of France, the current Security Council president, said, "We will do our best to have a resolution as soon as possible, and as soon as feasible."

Israel rejects the idea of observers in Gaza but European diplomats say the Jewish state can be persuaded to accept it.

The Israeli army launched an attack on Hamas positions in Gaza last month after the group ended a six-month ceasefire.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband are among Western officials attending a special council session on Gaza on Tuesday, along with some half a dozen Arab ministers, U.N. diplomats said.

ISRAEL: NO CEASEFIRE RESOLUTION YET

Israel's U.N. Ambassador Gabriela Shalev said there was no point in the Security Council passing any ceasefire resolution while Hamas militants continued to fire rockets at Israel.

"The situation will be ripe for a ceasefire whenever Hamas will stop shooting the rockets and we will have guarantees that there is going to be a comprehensive package to ensure a long-term ceasefire," she told Reuters in an interview.

She said this must include an end to rocket attacks against Israel and weapons smuggling into Gaza. She also rejected the idea of a resolution treating Israel and Hamas, which does not recognize Israel's right to exist, as equal parties.

"We cannot be put on the same level as a terrorist organization -- Hamas," she said.

Shalev said Israel was aware of the difficulties facing the 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza, most of whom depend on aid.