New York  - Palestinian officials on Thursday called on UN Security Council members to discuss the controversial report on fighting between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip when they meet next week for a session on the Middle East.

Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki visited UN headquarters to hold talks with Arab states, which also support a debate in the 15-nation council on the report by South African Judge Richard Goldstone.

The Arab states and the Palestinians failed on Wednesday to convince the council to hold a debate solely on the report. But the council, in a sign of compromise, decided to hold its monthly meeting on the situation in the Middle East on October 14, a week earlier than originally scheduled. The council thus opened the doors for discussion on the Goldstone report.

The PA is counting on council members like Libya and Turkey to introduce the report to the council's Middle East meeting.

"We are coordinating with Turkey and the rest of council members and we are certain they are in favour of the discussion," al-Malki told reporters. Al-Malki and Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour were lobbying council members to support the debate on the Goldstone report.

Al-Malki blasted Hamas militants in Gaza Strip for trying to capitalize on the report.

"Hamas should adhere to international law and stop exploiting the report in favour of its political advantage over the Palestinian people," al-Malki said.

Al-Malki challenged Hamas, which dominates the political life in Gaza, to openly support the Goldstone report and implement the recommendations proposed in it to improve peace prospects between Israel and the Palestinians.

The Goldstone report charged both the Israeli Defence Forces and Hamas with war crimes and acts that amounted to crimes against humanity. It called on the council to send the case to the International Criminal Court at The Hague.

Israel and the United States have rejected the report as one-sided and its findings as deeply flawed.

The Goldstone report was discussed by the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva last month and the body was prepared to adopt a resolution condemning only Israel. The council had the right to discuss the report because it established the fact-finding mission in May to probe charges of mass killings in Gaza in the December-January war between Israel and Hamas.

The US, a member of the council in Geneva, blocked the vote and the council decided to defer the hearing on the Goldstone report until March.

But Arab states and the Palestinians, which consider the report to their advantage, want to bring the discussion to the council in New York.

Libya, a council member, on Wednesday asked the council to schedule an urgent meeting to discuss the report drawn up by a panel of jurists and headed by Goldstone.

The request urged the council to debate the Goldstone report because it reached "clear conclusions" that war crimes and crimes against humanity were "committed by the Israeli occupying forces against the Palestinian people in Gaza Strip."

"This report constitutes yet another record of crimes committed against our people under occupation and its serious recommendations are a significant contributions towards the pursuit of accountability and justice that must be seriously followed up," the Libyan request said.

The council did not accept the request.  dpa