United Nations: The UN Security Council held a special meeting on Saturday after Israel launched a ground operation in Gaza.
Council diplomats said the 15 members would debate a statement drafted by Libya, the only Arab member of the Security Council, that would express "serious concern at the escalation of the situation in Gaza, in particular, after the launching of the Israeli ground offensive".
It also called on all parties to "to observe an immediate cease-fire" and to "stop immediately all military activities".
Israel launched a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip earlier on Saturday, sending tanks and infantry into battle with Hamas fighters, who have defied eight days of deadly air strikes with salvos of rocket fire into Israeli towns.
French UN Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert told reporters ahead of the closed-door emergency council session that he did not know if the Libyan draft would get the backing of all 15 council members, which is required for it to pass.
Riyad Mansour, the permanent Palestinian observer to the United Nations, told reporters that it was the council's responsibility "to bring Israel into compliance and to stop this aggression immediately".
"Israel cannot continue to behave as a state above international law - this is the law of the jungle," he added.
Mansour added that it was crucial for the council to adopt a statement calling for an immediate cease-fire and withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. It was not clear if Washington would back the Libyan text in its current form.
The United States and Libya have clashed repeatedly on the Israeli-Palestinian issue since Libya joined the council a year ago, and Washington has tried to keep the topic off the agenda whenever possible.
The US delegation has repeatedly insisted that any council statement or resolution on the Gaza conflict would have to state that the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which seized power there in 2007, is a terrorist organisation and that seized power from the legitimate Palestinian Authority. Tripoli and other Arab capitals oppose this, leaving the council deadlocked on the Gaza crisis.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for an immediate end to Israel's ground operation in Gaza. In a telephone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Ban conveyed his "extreme concern and disappointment," a statement from his press office said.
President of the UN General Assembly Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, a Nicaraguan who has been critical of both the United States and Israel, told reporters that the Israeli ground invasion of Gaza was a "monstrosity."
He also accused the United States, a veto-wielding permanent council member, of aiding Israel by undermining the council's ability to intervene in the Gaza crisis.
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