UNITED NATIONS — The Arab member of the U.N. Security Council, Qatar, presented a resolution yesterday demanding an immediate cessation of Israel’s two-week military offensive in Gaza. Aiming to avoid having to veto the proposal today, American diplomats struggled last night to prevent a vote on the resolution.

At least nine of the 15 council members must support the proposal for it to pass, and Qatar scrambled to find enough votes yesterday. In an attempt to attract support, the Arabs added a call for the release of an Israeli soldier kidnapped last week, as well as for an end to the rocket attacks against Israel. A British diplomat told the New York Sun, however, that while the latest version was an improvement over the previous one-sided texts, “it is not there yet.”

But while Britain and some of the 10 non-permanent members are not expected to support the resolution, France indicated it might. The new text “has encompassed many amendments that we have asked for,” the French U.N. ambassador, Jean-Marc de la Sabliere, said.

Meanwhile, France began negotiating a separate statement denouncing the Hezbollah kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers yesterday. Secretary-General Annan called the kidnapping a “violent act” that represents a “blatant breach” of council resolutions. His statement demanded an immediate release of the soldiers, as well as the deployment of Lebanon’s forces in areas currently controlled by Hezbollah.

Mr. Annan and council members including Russia have often denounced Israel for “extrajudicial targeted killing” of terror leaders. Asked about it yesterday, in the aftermath of the death of the Chechen terrorist Shamil Basayev, the Russian ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, said, “He is a notorious terrorist, and we have very clearly and publicly announced what is going to happen to notorious terrorists who commit heinous crimes of the type Mr. Basayev has been involved in.”