CAIRO (AFP) - The Arab League accused the U.S. on Tuesday of blocking a UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, where 11 days of fighting have killed hundreds of Palestinians.

Arab foreign ministers who went to the UN's New York headquarters to lobby for a resolution are ""facing difficulties and obstacles because of the U.S. supportive stance toward Israel,"" said Mohammed Subaih, Arab League deputy secretary general for Palestinian affairs.
""(The U.S.) wants more blood and wants to block a decision by the Security Council so Israel can continue its aggression and perform a cleansing operation"" against Palestinians, he told AFP.
The Security Council is due to meet again on Tuesday to weigh an Arab call for an immediate ceasefire and for protection of Palestinian civilians.
The U.S. opposed a Libyan resolution calling for both sides to abide by a ceasefire because it did not explicitly mention Hamas rocket attacks.
A Western diplomat said France is working with Arab states to finalize a draft resolution that would call for an immediate ceasefire, specifically an end to the Israeli military assault as well as to rocket firing into Israel by Gaza-based fighters.
The text would also urge the lifting of the Israeli siege of Gaza to allow humanitarian access to the beleaguered Palestinian population, protection of Palestinian civilians, a resumption of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and a mechanism to monitor the truce and the protection of civilians, diplomats said.