UNITED NATIONS, April 9: Despite US objections, Arab nations sought another UN Security Council resolution on Tuesday demanding Israel pull its troops out of the Palestinian cities and calling for a “third party” presence to oversee future agreements.

“Now is the time for leadership on the ground and in the region. We do not need any more resolutions,” said John Negroponte, US Ambassador to the United Nations.

In the last three weeks, US voted in favour of resolutions asking Israel to withdraw from the occupied territories, including the one sponsored by it, supporting creation of a Palestinian state.

Nasser Al-Kidwa, the Palestinian UN observer, said Arab states would increase pressure until Israel withdrew its troops. “The council is doing its job, but Israel is not heeding the word of the council,” Al-Kidwa said.

The 15-member Security Council adopted three resolutions in as many weeks, calling for an immediate ceasefire, an immediate Israeli troop withdrawal and a peace deal to settle the Middle East conflict that includes a Palestinian state.

The new resolution, introduced by Syria on Monday, calls for a “third party” presence on the ground to help both sides implement any agreements. Washington and Israel have previously turned down an international monitoring force.

The draft also calls on Israel to “fully and effectively respect” the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention on the treatment of civilians in occupied territories. This provision, if adopted, could pave the way for the council to invoke Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which allows enforcement measures, including sanctions.

After meeting twice behind closed doors to discuss the Middle East crisis, the Security Council on Monday held an open debate in which speaker after speaker demanded the implementation of the council’s resolution 1402 and called on Israel to halt its attacks on Palestinian areas and withdraw its forces.

Speaking at the outset of the debate in which representatives of some 40 countries spoke, Nasser Al-Kidwa, the Permanent Observer for Palestine, said at least 250 Palestinian civilians had been killed in recent days. “Water and power were cut off from vast areas, the infrastructure was destroyed, homes were stormed into, mass detentions took place, buildings, cars and properties were totally destroyed.”

He called for those responsible to be brought to justice.

“There is no doubt that a serious stand by the international community against these crimes will assist in putting an end to such crimes and make sure that they will not be repeated,” he said.

Al-Kidwa said Israel had chosen to ignore Security Council resolutions as well as United States President George Bush’s request last Thursday for a cessation of military operations and Israeli withdrawal without delay. Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat, he added, would cooperate with US Secretary of State Colin Powell and others. “Our people will not give up their right to the establishment of an independent State of Palestine,” he said. “But the first necessary step now is the immediate, unconditional implementation of resolution 1402.”

On his part, the representative of Israel, Ambassador Yehuda Lancry, stressed that the steps laid down in resolution 1402 must be carried out simultaneously. “Israeli withdrawal, if it is not preceded by a meaningful Palestinian ceasefire, must at the very least be accompanied by one,” he said.

“For its part, Israel believes that with the direct involvement of Secretary Powell, the package of steps envisaged in resolution 1402, including Israel’s

withdrawal, can be fully implemented,” he said, adding that the Palestinian side seemed to have no intention of “even declaring a ceasefire, much less implementing a meaningful one.”

He claimed that Israeli military operations, which were being conducted in a way that minimized, to the degree possible, harm to Palestinian civilians, were legally and morally necessary. “The majority of those killed have been Palestinian fighters who either fired on Israeli troops or were engaged in terrorist activities,” he further claimed.