The New Nation - Internet Edition

AP, Gaza

Israel said yesterday that it "welcomes" an Egyptian-French ceasefire proposal for Gaza as long as such a deal guarantees a halt to militant rockets and weapons smuggling, in a possible sign that a bloody 12-day offensive could be winding down.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said in Paris that both Israel and the moderate Palestinian leadership in charge of the West Bank had accepted the truce proposal, but Israeli officials did not confirm that. Hamas, for its part, said it would only support a deal if it included an opening of Gaza's borders. In Turkey, meanwhile, a diplomat said that country will be given the task of constructing an international force for Gaza.

Both Israel and Hamas appeared to seek guarantees about the details of a cease-fire, before agreeing to halt the fighting.

Israel said it would support the proposal only if it halts "hostile fire" from Hamas in Gaza and includes measures to prevent the militant group from rearming, said government spokesman Mark Regev.

Hamas said Israel does not seem to be serious about reaching a cease-fire."Israel is still widening and escalating its aggression and is not giving any positive signals in response to these efforts," Ghazi Hammad said.

The precise details of the Egyptian-French proposal remain unclear.

Israel's military scaled back attacks in Gaza for three hours yesterday to allow food and fuel to reach besieged Palestinians.

With criticism rising of the operation's spiraling civilian death toll and Gazans increasingly suffering the effects of nonstop airstrikes and shelling, Israel's military said it would open "humanitarian corridors" to allow aid supplies to reach Palestinians.

Israeli military spokesman Peter Lerner said the "recess in offensive operations" was aimed at allowing in supplies and fuel, and would last from from 1 to 4 p.m local time. He said similar lulls in the coming days would be considered.

Lerner said that even during the pause, "For every attack against the army, there will be a response." Gaza residents reported scattered gunfire and explosions even after it was supposed to have gone into effect, but the scale of fighting appeared to drop.

A Damascus-based Hamas leader told Al-Arabiya TV that militants would not fire rockets during the lull, but said that did not mean the group was accepting a cease-fire.

Before Wednesday's brief lull, Israel said it struck 40 Hamas targets during the hours of darkness. Gaza health officials said strikes yesterday morning killed eight people.

Outrage over an Israeli strike Tuesday near a U.N. school continued, with the U.N. agency responsible for the building demanding an "impartial investigation" into the attack. Gaza health officials put the death toll from the strike at 39, while the U.N. says 40 were killed.

Israel says its forces fired at militants who launched mortars from that location.

About 300 of the more than 670 Palestinians killed so far are civilians, according to Palestinian and U.N. figures. Of those killed, at least 130 are children age 16 and under, says the Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights, which tracks casualties.

The number of armed fighters killed remains unclear. Gaza residents say Hamas fighters have begun wearing civilian clothes, and the organization is keeping its casualties secret and housing its wounded and dead in undisclosed locations.

Israel has lost six soldiers since launching a ground offensive on Saturday - four of them in "friendly fire" incidents - and four other Israelis have been killed by rocket fire, three of them civilians.

Israel's lull in operations could ease the plight of civilians in Gaza, where much of the territory has no power or running water, because pumps are dependent on electricity.

More than 500 aid trucks have been shipped into Gaza since operations began. But even when aid crosses into Gaza military operations have prevented officials from distributing it, leading to food shortages in some areas.