WASHINGTON, May 30 (Agencies): Kuwait has circulated a draft UN Security Council resolution on setting up an international protection mission for Palestinians.
The proposal, submitted on Tuesday, aims to win support in a vote expected this week, diplomats said.
According to the draft obtained by AFP news agency, the new text "calls for the consideration of measures to guarantee the safety and protection of the Palestinian civilian population" in the occupied Palestinian territories and Gaza Strip.
Kuwait first put forward the idea 10 days ago after condemning Israeli forces' killing of dozens of Palestinians during protests on the Gaza border.
The Security Council may hold a vote, possibly on Thursday, on the resolution, which is expected to face a US veto, diplomats added.
Highlighting Washington's isolation on the Israeli-Palestinian issue, Kuwait - a non-permanent Security Council member representing Arab countries - hopes to win a high number of votes in favour of its proposal.
The revised draft outlines demands for an international protection mission and asks UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to present recommendations.
France and Britain have criticised the draft resolution for lacking specific details, diplomats said, adding that the US viewed it as biased against Israel.
Danny Danon, Israel's permanent representative to the UN, blasted the proposed resolution, calling it "shameful" and crafted to help Hamas, the group governing Gaza.
Diplomats have said the Palestinians might turn to the UN General Assembly if the draft resolution on protection fails to win Security Council backing.
The council is to meet on Wednesday at the request of the United States to discuss Palestinian rocket and mortar shells fired into Israel from Gaza.
Meanwhile, Gaza's Hamas rulers said Wednesday they had agreed to a cease-fire with Israel to end the largest flare-up of violence between the sides since a 2014 war.
Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas official, said Egyptian mediators intervened "after the resistance succeeded in warding off the aggression." He said militant groups in Gaza will commit to the cease-fire as long as Israel does.
Israeli Cabinet minister Arieh Deri told Israel's Army Radio that he expected calm to be restored.
"If it will be quiet, we will respond with quiet. We've given Hamas a chance to prove that we can return to routine ... If they release the reins there will be a very painful strike," he said. "There is a good chance that the routine will be restored after the blow the army unleashed on them."
The Israeli military struck dozens of militant sites in Gaza overnight as rocket fire continued toward southern Israeli communities into early Wednesday morning, setting off air raid sirens in the area throughout the night.
The military said it hit drone storage facilities, military compounds, and rocket and munition workshops across the Gaza Strip. The overnight Hamas rocket fire reached the city of Netivot for the first time since the 2014 war. A home was struck, but no one was wounded.
The border area has been tense in recent weeks as Palestinians have held mass protests aimed at lifting an Israeli-Egyptian blockade imposed after Hamas seized power in 2007.
Israeli fire has killed more than 110 Palestinians, most of them during the Hamas-led protests, which climaxed on May 14.
Israel and Hamas are bitter enemies and have fought three wars since the Islamic militant group seized control of Gaza in 2007.
The last war, in 2014, was especially devastating, with over 2,000 Palestinians killed, including hundreds of civilians, and widespread damage inflicted on Gaza's infrastructure in 50 days of fighting. Seventy-two people were killed on the Israeli side.
A crippling Israeli-Egyptian blockade, imposed when Hamas took power, has meanwhile brought the local economy to a standstill.
Hamas initially billed the weekly border protests as a call to break through the fence and return to homes that were lost 70 years ago during the war surrounding Israel's establishment. But the protests appear to be fueled primarily by a desire to ease the blockade. Gaza's unemployment rate is edging toward 50 percent, and the territory suffers from chronic power outages.
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