U.N. aid chief disappointed Gaza truce call ignored

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. humanitarian affairs chief said on Friday it was "extremely disappointing" that Israel and Hamas had so far ignored a call in a Security Council resolution for a cease-fire in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert dismissed Thursday's resolution calling for an "immediate and durable" cease-fire in the two-week-old war as "unworkable" and warplanes and tanks continued to pound the Palestinian enclave.

Officials of the Hamas Islamist movement that runs Gaza said they were weighing the U.N. resolution but objected that they had not been consulted.

"It's extremely disappointing that so far (the resolution) has been ignored by both sides," said John Holmes, head of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

"It is a reasonable expectation on our part that the parties should comply with that resolution and I hope they will do that in the very near future," Holmes told reporters.

"What we still desperately need is a full, lasting cease-fire so that we can do what we need to do to protect civilians because ... civilians are not safe anywhere in Gaza until there is a full cease-fire."

There was no immediate comment from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who said on Thursday he was "heartened and relieved" by the passing of the resolution and called on all parties in Israel and Gaza to respect it.

The resolution was the result of lengthy haggling between Western and Arab states. It was passed by 14-0 in the Security Council, with the United States abstaining.

Apart from a cease-fire, it also called for the reopening of border crossings into Gaza and for the unimpeded distribution of aid in the territory.

(Reporting by Patrick Worsnip; Editing by Eric Beech)