The presidents of Egypt and France have proposed a plan to end the escalating Israeli-Hamas conflict in Gaza, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Tuesday.
Kouchner told a high-level meeting of the U.N. Security Council that the plan would bring together the main parties, including the Palestinian Authority, to take “all measures” to end the conflict, including the key issues of protecting Gaza”s borders and reopening all crossings.
Kouchner said Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced the plan at a press conference.
“We are awaiting the Israeli response and we harbor hope that it will be a positive one,” Kouchner said.
When asked about a reported possible cease-fire proposal, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert”s spokesman, Mark Regev told AP: “We are holding off comments on that for the time being.”
The Mubarak-Sarkozy plan got immediate support from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Palestinian Authority lost control of Gaza to Hamas in July 2007.
“I express my support for the plan set in motion today by president Mubarak and president Sarkozy,” said Abbas who flew to New York to attend the council meeting in hopes of getting a legally binding resolution for an immediate cease-fire.
Kouchner told the council that “president Mubarak has just proposed, together with President Sarkozy, at a press conference a plan for a resolution to the crisis to be found.”
“A halt to violence is the immediate priority,” he said. “The Security Council must support and encourage these promising endeavors. All states in the region must assist this and contribute toward this hope favoring moderation.”
