Explaining America's abstention, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who had extended her stay for two days to participate in the negotiations, said the US wanted to see the outcome of the Egyptian initiative first, but allowed the resolution to go forward because it was a step in the right direction.

A negative vote by the US, one of the Council's permanent members with veto powers, would have killed the measure.

The resolution called for renewed efforts to achieve a comprehensive peace with two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace with secure and recognised borders.

The British-drafted text "welcomes the Egyptian initiative," the three-point truce proposal unveiled by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Tuesday," and other regional and international efforts that are under way."

The West Bank-based Palestine Authority of President Mahmoud Abbas accepts the two-state solution, while Hamas, which seized control of Gaza in 2007, does not recognize Israel's right to exist.

The resolution "encourages tangible steps towards intra-Palestinian reconciliation."

Tel Aviv contends that it cannot hold talks with Hamas as a terrorist outfit cannot be equated with Israel, which is a UN member State.

The 15-member Council welcomed Egyptian and other efforts under way to end the current crisis, which began on December 27 with Israeli air strikes launched with the stated aim of ending Hamas rocket attacks into southern Israel.

Addressing the Council, several members saw the Egyptian initiative as the only viable way to establish a "lasting and durable" peace leading to Palestinian and Israeli states living side by side in peace.

... contd.