New York  - Arab governments on Monday called on the UN Security Council to order an end to hostilities in Gaza Strip, hoping that the group would overcome opposition by the United States for such a move.

Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki said Arab foreign ministers attending meetings at UN headquarters in New York planned to submit a new draft resolution and ask the 15-nation council to adopt it on Tuesday.

Al-Malki said the Arab ministers were working through a "proper channel" to convince Washington to support the text.

Arab officials attending meetings at UN headquarters in New York included the foreign ministers of Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Libya and Morroco. Other Arab governments will be represented by their UN ambassadors.

Arab diplomats said they would demand that Israel reopen crossings into Gaza and that an international force be deployed in that territory in addition to the end of hostilities. Those elements will be included in a new draft resolution to be presented to the UN Security Council for a possible vote on Tuesday.

The UN said the humanitarian situation in Gaza has "dramatically deteriorated" since Israel launched the military campaign on the ground on Saturday. John Holmes, the chief of UN humanitarian operations, said Gazans are faced with a worsened living conditions and health services. The UN staff assisting Gazans have reached the state of exhaustion after days of fighting.

The US opposed a previous text submitted by the League of Arab States, branding it one-sided because it singled out and condemned only Israel in the conflict against Hamas militants in Gaza Strip.

In Washington, the US said it was pushing for a ceasefire that would require Hamas to halt rocket attacks into Israel but would also open crossings into the isolated enclave, US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Monday.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke to more than a dozen counterparts over the weekend seeking support for the proposal, which would also address tunnels used by Hamas to smuggle weapons from Egypt, McCormack said.

Asked whether Hamaas would support the new text proposed by Arab governments, Al-Maliki said: "We are really working in order to get a resolution that will be implementable. What's important here is we are looking for the interests of the Palestinian people."

Al-Malki said the Palestinian Authority was "disappointed" that US President-elect Barack Obama has so far failed to voice a position on the Israel-Hamas fighting. He pointed out that Obama had spoken out against the terrorist attacks in Mumbai last month.

"We expect him (Obama) to take a strong position as soon as possible," al-Malki said.

Washington is in a transitional period with Obama expected to take over the White House January 20. Obama's team has adopted a mantra that there is only one US president at a time.

Earlier Monday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon renewed appeals for the international community to act to halt the fighting in the Gaza Strip.

Ban said the Security Council needs to play a central role in ending the conflict and that he will continue to work with its members to find a solution.

After the closed council meeting Saturday night, Jean-Maurice Ripert, French ambassador to the UN and current holder of the Security Council's rotating chairmanship, said there was a strong consensus among the 15 member countries to issue an opinion on the conflict. The overwhelming majority would demand an immediate ceasefire from all sides, he said.

At the time, US Ambassador Alejandro Wolff said that it would damage the Security Council's credibility to make demands that go ignored. He said that Israel as a member of the world community should not be equated with a terrorist organization like Hamas, the Palestinian militant movement that controls the Gaza Strip.

The Security Council has been unable to forge a resolution on the violence since an Israeli bombing campaign began on December 27, in response to stepped up rocket fire toward southern Israel by Gaza militants. (dpa)