Israel shows interest in 48-hour Gaza truce

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld ... 0243.story
A French proposal could lead to a full cease-fire with Hamas. Both sides continue their attacks as the death toll mounts.
By Richard Boudreaux
2:59 PM PST, December 30, 2008
Reporting from Jerusalem -- After four days of airstrikes that have partially crippled Hamas, Israel signaled interest today in a proposed 48-hour suspension of its offensive in the Gaza Strip to test the prospects for a full cease-fire with the militant Palestinian group.
The proposal, offered by France on behalf of the European Union, came as Israel's air force appeared to be running short of bombing targets and losing the advantage of surprise it achieved early in the offensive that began Saturday.
Israeli aircraft attacked the coastal enclave throughout the day, pounding supply tunnels under Gaza's border with Egypt, an empty Hamas government complex, several security installations and the home of a senior Hamas commander. The bombing also killed more unarmed civilians, including two sisters, ages 4 and 11, who were walking near a rocket-launching site.
Hamas fired more than 40 rockets at Israeli communities near Gaza's border, striking deeper than ever into the Jewish state but causing only light casualties. One rocket landed 28 miles from Gaza in the desert city of Beersheba, a range that makes 700,000 Israelis, a tenth of the country's population, potential targets.
More than 370 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Saturday, and the United Nations says at least 62 of them were noncombatant women and children. At least four Israeli civilians have been killed by attacks from Gaza during the same period, officials said.
Israeli officials say the airstrikes have destroyed one-third of Hamas' estimated arsenal of 3,000 rockets and half of its underground launch silos -- "an overwhelming blow, albeit far from critical," said Yair Naveh, a former commander of Israeli forces in the West Bank.
He said the offensive, aimed at breaking Hamas' capacity and will to continue the rocket attacks, was nearing a decisive point: Israeli leaders must either escalate the fight with a ground invasion of Gaza or arrange a cease-fire.
Israeli officials said they were weighing both courses of action. But the desire for a truce appeared to dominate a series of high-level meetings today in Jerusalem, prodded by France's initiative and by an indirect show of interest from Hamas.
The idea of a truce was floated Sunday by Khaled Meshaal, Hamas' top political leader, based in Syria, in a telephone call to Senegalese President Abdoullaye Wade, who heads the Organization of the Islamic Conference.
Senegal's Foreign Ministry announced that Hamas was interested in a cease-fire if it included a lifting of Israel's blockade of Gaza, which has severely restricted the flow of goods across the border.
France, which holds the rotating presidency of the European Union until Thursday, took up the idea and proposed a 48-hour truce. Israel would halt its attacks and lift the blockade to let in humanitarian relief supplies, testing Hamas' willingness to stop the rockets. If calm prevailed for 48 hours, talks on a long-range cease-fire would begin.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner twice telephoned Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak today to discuss the proposal. Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was to meet in Paris on Thursday with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, his office announced.
Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said Israel was wary of any proposal "that would give Hamas a respite allowing it to regroup and rearm."
But two Cabinet-level officials confirmed Israel's interest in a cease-fire.
"It could be that we would say, 'OK, all right, for humanitarian needs only,' and we would allow this," Welfare Minister Isaac Herzog told Israel's Army Radio. "But of course this also depends on the other side, where it wants to take this confrontation."
He said Israel could continue to prepare for a ground offensive in Gaza as it tested a cease-fire.
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