Britain, France urge U.N. action on Middle East, NZ drafting text

Palestinians place Palestinian flags on road signs during a protest against Jewish settlements near Ma'on settlement, south of the West Bank city of Hebron March 7, 2015. REUTERS/ Mussa Qawasma

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Britain and France urged the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday to set a framework to broker peace between Israel and the Palestinians as council member New Zealand said it had started working on a draft resolution to kick-start the process.

France said last month that it planned to begin talks on a draft text to lay out "parameters" for ending the Middle East conflict and that it hoped to win over the United States, which has traditionally shielded its ally Israel from any U.N. action.