UNITED NATIONS: The United States late Saturday blocked approval of a UN Security Council statement calling for an immediate cease-fire between Israel and Hamas and expressing serious concern at the escalation of violence following Israel s ground attack in Gaza, council diplomats said. US deputy ambassador Alejandro Wolff said the United States saw no prospect of Hamas abiding by last week s council call for an immediate end to the violence. Therefore, he said, a new statement at this time would not be adhered to and would have no underpinning for success, (and) would not do credit to the council. France s UN Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert, the current council president, announced that there was no agreement on a statement though he said there were strong convergences among members to express serious concern about the deteriorating situation in Gaza and on the need for an immediate, permanent and fully respected cease-fire and humanitarian aid. Libya, the only Arab nation on the council, called the emergency meeting after Israel sent tanks and infantry across the border into Gaza on the eighth day of its offensive against Hamas. The ground attack followed a week of air strikes, which Hamas responded to with salvos of rocket fired into southern Israel. The Arabs demanded that the council adopt a presidential statement calling for an immediate cease-fire and expressing "serious concern at the escalation of violence and the deterioration of the situation in Gaza and southern Israel, a view echoed by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Libya's UN Ambassador Giadalla Ettalhi said during closed council discussions on the proposed presidential statement - which if adopted would become part of the council's official record statement - the United States said it objected to "any product or any outcome. Despite this, he said efforts were made to compromise and agree on a weaker press statement, but "unfortunately there was no consensus. Several other council members, speaking on condition of anonymity because negotiations were closed, also said the US was responsible for the council's failure to issue a statement. With more than 480 Palestinians killed in Gaza, and just four killed in Israel, the Israeli government has come under strong criticism for the excessive use of force. Israel maintains the offensive - one of the Mideast's bloodiest assaults in decades - is aimed at stopping rocket attacks from Hamas-controlled Gaza that have traumatized southern Israel. Egypt's UN Ambassador Maged Abdelaziz said it was regrettable that at a time "that the aggression is escalating and more people are dying and the military attack on the ground is at its full scale one permanent council member - a clear reference to the US - refused to accept any statement and only wanted to have the council president issue some agreed "elements to the press. Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian UN observer, said: "We have war. We have aggression against the Palestinian people, and it is a sad and tragic moment when the Security Council cannot address this issue by at least demanding from Israel ... to stop this aggression immediately. He said 3,000 Palestinians have been killed and injured since Israeli warplanes starting bombing Gaza a week ago, and if the ground offensive "is not stopped immediately then we will have perhaps thousands more of Palestinian civilians killed and injured. While the council took no action on Saturday night, an Arab draft resolution circulated by Libya on Wednesday night that would condemn Israel and halt its military attacks on Gaza remains on the table. It would have to be revised, however, since the United States called it "unacceptable and "unbalanced because it doesn't call for an end to the Hamas rocketing of Israel. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is expected in New York on Tuesday, along with half a dozen Arab foreign ministers who will be at the UN on Monday, to press for a cease-fire resolution. Mansour said he hopes Abbas and the ministers will succeed in getting a resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, the opening of Israeli border crossings, and an "international force to provide security for our people ... so that we will have a durable and sustainable cease-fire between us and the Israelis. Asked what kind of resolution would be acceptable to the United States, Wolff said "the important point to focus on here is establishing the understanding of what type of cease-fire we're talking about and to ensure that it's lasting, and to ensure that we don't return to a situation that led to the current situation. Britain's UN Ambassador John Sawers, who said he was "very disappointed that no agreement was reached on a council statement Saturday, said a solution must also address the Hamas rocketing and arms smuggling across the Egyptian border. While the issue of observers along Gaza's borders with Egypt and Israel has been put into the negotiations, Egypt's Abdelaziz said "we fully reject any kind of allegations or insinuations that there are any smuggling of arms from Egypt to Gaza.
