UNITED NATIONS - The United States and its western allies signaled their opposition to an Arab move in an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council Wednesday night for a binding and enforceable resolution condemning Israel and halting its deadly military attacks on Gaza. The 15-member council met on the New Year's eve after Israel rejected a proposed ceasefire. Libya's UN Ambassador Giadalla Ettalhi told the open meeting that on behalf of the Arab states, he was circulating a draft resolution in a new effort to end the Israel-Hamas conflict. The draft "strongly condemns all military attacks and the excessive, disproportionate and indiscriminate use of force by Israel, the occupying power, which have led to the death and injury of scores of innocent Palestinian civilians, including women and children." It calls for "an immediate ceasefire and for its full respect by both sides." It also calls on Israel "to scrupulously abide by all of its obligations under international humanitarian law, particularly under the Geneva Convention relative to the protection of civilians in time of war." US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, a Muslim of Afghan origin, called the draft "unacceptable and unbalanced", blaming Hamas militants rocket attacks for the Israeli offensive. He said the United States is working very hard to achieve an immediate cease-fire implemented by both sides - but he said Washington has not seen "any evidence" yet that Hamas is willing to do so. The best way to move forward, he said, would be to get an agreement among the parties for a cease-fire and humanitarian access to Gaza through diplomacy, "and for that agreement to be enshrined in a Security Council resolution if necessary." Britain's U.N. Ambassador John Sawers also called the resolution "one-sided" but he told reporters a balanced resolution would have "a good chance of support" in the council. Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian UN observer, said Arab nations would be working "day and night" to get council approval of a binding resolution "that would condemn the crimes committed by Israel and stop the military aggression, and provide protection for the Palestinians and lift the siege." Sudan's U.N. Ambassador Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamed said he did not foresee the adoption of a resolution before Monday because a delegation of Arab foreign ministers is flying to New York "to give a boost to the diplomatic activity here." He said the ministers - from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, Qatar, Lebanon, Libya, Egypt and Morocco - would arrive Sunday or Monday. Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa has also asked Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas "to lead the diplomatic campaign in New York," he said. The Security Council issued a press statement Sunday about 15 hours after Israeli warplanes started raining bombs on Hamas security sites expressing concern at the escalating situation in Gaza and calling on Israel and the Palestinians to immediately halt all violence. It made no specific reference to either the Israeli bombings or the rocket attacks by Hamas militants, and there was no condemnation of either party. Unlike Security Council resolutions, council press statements are not legally binding. With up to 390 dead in Gaza, and just four in Israel, the Israeli government has come under strong criticism from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and many in the Arab world for the excessive use of force. Israel said the bombardment - one of the Mideast's bloodiest assaults in decades - was aimed at stopping the rocket attacks from Gaza that have traumatized southern Israel. The emergency council meeting was convened at the behest of Egypt, which assumed the Arab League presidency in December. At the start of the meeting, Ban again condemned "the indiscriminate rocket attacks by Hamas militants and the disproportionality of the continuing Israeli military operation." He said he was "profoundly troubled" that the council's call for an end to the violence had gone unheeded and demanded that the parties "step back from the brink" and observe an immediate cease-fire. Many speakers at the open council meeting criticized Israel's bombing as excessive. Israel's UN Ambassador Gabriela Shalev defended Israel's decision to attack in response to more than 300 rockets and mortars launched at Israeli cities and towns by "Hamas terrorists." Shalev said any resolution must be balanced and that "Hamas must not only stop the fire but must give guarantees that this is the end of the barrage of rockets and mortars over Israel." In a moving and well reasoned speech, Libyan Ambassador Giadallah Ettalhi recalled that a truce had been reached between the Palestinians and Israelis last June under Egyptian sponsorship. As part of that truce, Israel had pledged to open the border crossings while the Palestinians had observed the truce "religiously" despite at least 190 Israeli violations that had killed 25 citizens. But, he said, the crossings had never been completely opened, and on November 4, the Israeli Army had entered the eastern part of Gaza, unprovoked, and killed six Palestinians. The Palestinians had never fired a single bullet except in response to an Israeli violation of the truce. Since 5 November, the Israelis had imposed a full blockade on Gaza, including blocking UNRWA. Those actions constituted a crime of genocide, a crime against humanity and a war crime according to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, the Libyan ambassador said, pointing out that 80 per cent of Palestinian families were suffering from hunger and a collapse in water and sewerage services. Gazans could only get clean water once a week, according to the United Nations, while 150 basic medicines were unavailable. More than 400 Palestinians had died due to lack of treatment, a fact known to all, including the Council, which, however, had never lifted a finger, the Libyan ambassador said. "What do you expect from people living under those conditions?" Since 27 December, he said, there had been air raids and bombardments which had led to the massacre that had claimed some 400 dead and 2,000 injured, most of them civilians, including large numbers of children. Buildings, schools, mosques, official buildings and the fragile infrastructure had been destroyed. On the night of 27 December the Council had met in a closed session and issued a press statement calling for an end to the military action and the opening of the crossings, he recalled. The Israelis had not responded, despite pleas by the Secretary-General, the European Union, the Quartet and many Member States. Israel had said it would expand the attacks and that its ground forces were massing at the border. Israelis had proved once again that they were not interested in peace, but in seizing land, terrorizing Palestinians and expelling them from their homes by any possible means, including killing and starvation. No disrespect for international law and international humanitarian law could exceed what the Israelis had done in the Gaza Strip, Ettalhi said. The Libyan ambassador appealed to the Council to adopt a quick and binding measure so that no other Srbrenica or Rwanda would be added to history.