France pushes for Gaza truce at U.N.

By Louis Charbonneau

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - France stepped up its push for a cease-fire 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 cease-fire 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 cease-fire.