Frenetic UN diplomacy over Gaza

By Laura Trevelyan
BBC UN Correspondent

As the Israeli offensive in Gaza ended its 11th day, foreign ministers from the key powers arrived in New York for a 48-hour period of frenetic diplomacy.

The attack by Israeli planes close to a UN school in Gaza, which left 30 dead, only served to underline the importance of reaching agreement on a ceasefire.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon spoke more in sorrow than in anger when he told foreign ministers: "I have called for an immediate end to the violence, and I have warned that if these appeals went unheeded, civilians were going to continue to be killed in large numbers.

"Today at UN facilities in Gaza, this is exactly what happened."

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, told the Council that the attack was "new proof of the heinous crime being committed against our people".

Aid controls

The search for a diplomatic solution to the crisis seems to be coalescing behind the proposal by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, backed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, for a truce followed by talks with Israel and the Palestinians.

GAZA CRISIS BACKGROUND Profile: Gaza Strip Who are Hamas? Middle East conflict: History in maps

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner described Mr Mubarak's proposals as promising endeavours.

Israel's formal response is expected on Wednesday, said Mr Kouchner, and "we harbour hope that it will be a positive one", he told the UN Security Council.

Israel's UN Ambassador Gabriela Shalev later told reporters: "I am sure that it will be considered and you will find out whether it was accepted."

Mr Abbas and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice welcomed the Egyptian initiative.

Diplomats say ideas for ending the Israeli offensive have centred around two areas - creating a humanitarian corridor in southern Gaza so aid can be delivered to the Palestinians, and having an international presence between Egypt and Gaza, stopping Hamas smuggling rockets and weapons over the Egyptian border into Gaza which they then use to fire at Israel.

The Egyptian invitation to Israel to take part in talks on border security could be a way to begin resolving Israeli concerns about Hamas's ability to fire rockets at southern Israel.

As for the humanitarian corridor, Israel has offered to stop firing on specific parts of Gaza in order to let much-needed aid in.

Whether this will be good enough for Arab countries and Hamas remains to be seen.

One idea floated was for the Palestinian Authority to be in charge of the humanitarian corridor - having Israel running it is bound to be less appealing for the Arab world.

US block

Foreign ministers will remain in New York on Wednesday for further talks.

Mr Mubarak and Mr Sarkozy's proposal has secured US backing

They will not want to go home empty-handed, observed one diplomat.

It may be that ministers can negotiate a statement supporting the Franco-Egyptian initiative.

However, there is also a Libyan draft resolution, backed by Arab countries, which calls for a ceasefire, the opening of all crossings into Gaza and the deployment of international observers to monitor the ceasefire.

This draft has been criticised by Israel as one sided because it does not mention monitoring borders to destroy the tunnels Hamas has used to smuggle in rockets.

Libya would still like to see the resolution adopted by the Council, although it now seems to have been overtaken by Mr Mubarak's proposals.

Last weekend, the UN Security Council failed to even agree a statement calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

That statement was blocked by the US, which argued there was no point in calling for a ceasefire because Hamas would not observe it.

The Council's failure to adopt a legally binding resolution on the Gaza crisis was denounced by Arab speakers during the four hour session.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said the Council's "deafening silence" placed "a big question mark" over its credibility "and the entire system of international security".