(Adds comments from Egypt's foreign minister, background.)
CAIRO (AFP)--Arab League chief Amr Mussa accused the United Nations Security Council on Saturday of "ignoring" Israel's onslaught on Gaza, saying the delay in agreeing a resolution is proof of failure to handle the conflict.
Arab regimes cannot put pressure on Israel but the Security Council could pressure the Jewish state into ending its eight-day bombardment of Gaza, he said.
"Israel does not respect the Arabs. And we do not respect its policies," he said.
A delegation of Arab foreign ministers is expected to leave for the U.N.'s headquarters in New York on Sunday evening, he said.
"The continuation of...the international community and the Security Council ignoring this situation is a very dangerous thing," he told reporters at a press conference in the pan-Arab organization's Cairo headquarters.
"We see that its not convening is a clear proof of failure in dealing with this huge crisis and allowing Israel an opportunity," he said.
Mussa also dismissed as Israeli "disinformation" reports that some Arab regimes have accepted or supported Israel's campaign against Hamas.
He accused Israel of using "banned weapons" in Gaza.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit also said in an Egyptian television interview that the Security Council was not "doing its job" of quickly ending the conflict, according to a BBC Monitoring transcript.
"The U.N. Security Council is not doing its job or quickening its pace to shoulder its responsibilities," he said.
"No one should leave an operation such as this for seven days, as if it (the Security Council) wants a repetition of what happened in (the Israeli) operation in Lebanon," he added, referring to Israel's war against Hezbollah in 2006.
The Security Council issued a resolution calling for a ceasefire a month into that conflict, which killed at least 1,200 Lebanese, most of them civilians, and more than 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers.
At least 460 Palestinians have died in Israeli air strikes and naval bombardment of Gaza since Israel launched its campaign.
The U.S., a close ally of Israel and one of five countries with veto power in the Security Council, has said it would reject a Libyan draft resolution that called on both sides to abide by a ceasefire because it did not explicitly mention Hamas rocket attacks.
Israel says it is trying to deter the Islamist Hamas movement which controls Gaza from firing rockets into Israel.
Hamas rockets have killed four Israelis in the past eight days, while medics say Israel's air blitz has killed at least 460 Palestinians and wounded 2,350 others.
Click here to go to Dow Jones NewsPlus, a web front page of today's most important business and market news, analysis and commentary: http://www.djnewsplus.com/access/al?rnd=99Qg%2BCjSiFcScWejKNf%2FAg%3D%3D. You can use this link on the day this article is published and the following day.

Publié le 03 janvier 2009 Copyright © 2009 Dowjones