UNITED NATIONS, Jan 13: UN chief Ban Ki-moon got strong support from the Security Council on Tuesday as he briefed envoys on his upcoming Middle East tour to step up diplomatic efforts toward a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

“Everybody supported the role the secretary general can play... in getting an immediate ceasefire and for implementation of (Security Council) Resolution 1860,” Jean-Maurice Ripert, the council chair this month, told reporters after closed-door consultations.

“We think the timing (of Ban’s visit) is right. There are very important initiatives on the ground that could help,” he added, referring to Egypt’s efforts to broker a truce deal between Israel and Hamas.

UN spokeswoman Michele Montas told a press briefing that Ban’s goal during his tour was “to step up the pace of joint diplomatic efforts regarding Gaza and southern Israel.”

She said Ban renewed his call for an immediate ceasefire and for humanitarian aid to be delivered to the Gaza population without restrictions.

The UN chief was to leave later Tuesday for a tour that will take him to Egypt, Jordan, Israel, the West Bank city of Ramallah, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon and Kuwait, where he was to attend an Arab League summit next Monday.

Tuesday’s council meeting was the first since the 15-member body last week adopted Resolution 1860 which called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza leading to the withdrawal of Israeli troops.

Also last week, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak proposed an immediate ceasefire and allowing humanitarian aid into the besieged Palestinian enclave as well as ending arms smuggling between Egypt and Gaza.

In his press conference on Monday, Ban stressed the urgency of ending the bloody conflict in Gaza.

“My message is simple, direct and to the point: the fighting must stop,” Ban said in his first press conference of the year. “Too many people have died.

There has been too much civilian suffering.” He also said he was “deeply anguished” by the suffering of Gaza’s beleaguered 1.5 million Palestinians but said he was unlikely to visit the strife-torn territory.

He added that as soon as a truce is declared, he planned to send an assessment team to Gaza “to determine the extent of damage and the humanitarian needs.” Meanwhile, a senior aide to Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak was due to head for Cairo on Thursday to discuss the Egyptian truce proposal.

An Israeli defence official said Amos Gilad was planning to meet Omar Suleiman, Egyptian intelligence chief and pointman for the Israeli-Palestinian dossier.

Israel has conditioned ending the offensive on a cessation of Gaza rocket fire against southern Israel and creating an effective mechanism to halt smuggling into Gaza.—AFP