Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Tuesday he supported a proposal by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak for an immediate truce between Israel and the Palestinians in Hamas-ruled Gaza.

Speaking to the U.N. Security Council, Abbas said he expressed his "appreciation, indeed support" for the plan set out by Mubarak and French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Tuesday.

Abbas'' Fatah movement was ousted from Gaza in 2007 by Hamas.