Brown calls for Gaza cease-fire

LONDON, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, breaking with the United States over Gaza, called Sunday for an immediate cease-fire.

"We need an immediate cease-fire," Brown told the BBC. "The blame game can continue afterwards, but this dangerous moment, I think, requires us to act."

The United States Sunday blocked a British resolution before the U.N. Security Council that proposed a cease-fire, The Times of London reported. Vice President Dick Cheney, speaking on CBS' "Face the Nation," defended Israel's actions and said the country cannot return to a situation in which Hamas violated a truce by firing rockets from Gaza.

The British proposal would have included requirements from both sides for a lasting truce, the Times said.

Brown said a cease-fire would include a halt to rocket launches, while a truce would mean cooperation from Egypt and the Arab League on halting the flow of arms into Gaza.

He said he has talked to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert about what "guarantees" Israel needs.