European countries push for new UN resolution on Gaza

Britain, France and Germany have put forward key points of a new UN Security Council resolution on Gaza in a fresh bid to end six weeks of violence, diplomats have said.

The European initiative came as fighting flared in the six-week war, with Israeli airstrikes killing three top Hamas commanders and an Egyptian-led effort to broker peace talks teetering on the verge of collapse.

The two-page document obtained by AFP calls for an immediate and sustainable ceasefire that would put an end to the firing of rockets and military operations in the Gaza Strip.
It calls for a lifting of the Israeli blockade and a monitoring mechanism to report on ceasefire violations and verify the flow of goods into the Gaza Strip.

Diplomats said the measure was aimed at advancing efforts to reach agreement within the 15-member Security Council on a resolution after Jordan's draft met with resistance, notably from the United States.

The points described in the "elements" document lay out the parameters for a ceasefire deal that would address Israel's security concerns and Palestinian demands.

It instructs UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to immediately come up with proposals to "implement the relevant provisions of this resolution" in a move that could jump start the peace negotiations.

UN diplomats said they hoped the initiative would shore up the Egyptian-led peace track and lead to a sustainable ceasefire to avoid a relapse into war in a few years.

"We are getting positive messages from the region that this could be helpful," a diplomatic source told AFP.

More than 2,083 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict that began on July 8, most of them civilians, according to UN officials.