Israel to pause Gaza bombardment
 Israel says it is defending itself against terrorists |
Israel says it will halt its bombardment of the Gaza Strip for three hours every day.
An Israeli military spokesman said the lull, due to start at 1100 GMT, "would allow residents to re-supply, get aid and so on".
It comes as pressure is building on Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas to accept a ceasefire deal backed by the UN and the US.
The plan, proposed by Egypt and France, calls for an immediate ceasefire.
Aid agencies have warned of a mounting humanitarian crisis for the 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza who are unable to escape from the conflict because of Israel's blockade.
The BBC's Alan Johnston on the situation on the ground in the Gaza Strip
Israel's decision follows its announcement that it would open a humanitarian corridor into Gaza to allow in vital supplies.
Christopher Gunness, a spokesman for the UN relief agency Unwra, said the move did not go far enough.
"When you are trying to feed 750,000 people a day in Gaza as we are, you need a permanent ceasefire. You can't do that in a three-hour window," he said.
It follows one of the deadliest days since the offensive began last month, with more than 130 people killed on Tuesday.
Overnight, Israeli forces launched 40 fresh air strikes in Gaza, while Israeli media reports say nine rockets were fired into southern Israel from Gaza early on Wednesday.
Civilian deaths
Little official detail has been given about the French-Egyptian ceasefire proposal, but diplomats say it centres around measures to halt weapons smuggling from Egypt into Gaza, coupled with moves to ease the blockade.
Israel's security cabinet is meeting to consider the deal, but ministers are also expected to discuss expanding operations.
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A Palestinian official said Gaza's Hamas rulers, who want an end to Israel's blockade of the enclave, were debating the proposal, the Reuters news agency reported.
Israel wants to stop rocket attacks on southern Israel and to stop Hamas smuggling weapons into Gaza via Egypt, while Hamas says any ceasefire deal must include an end to Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip.
More than 600 Palestinians are now believed to have been killed since Israel began its offensive on 27 December.
Palestinian health ministry officials say at least 195 children were among those killed.
An Israeli attack on Tuesday on a UN-run school building, being used to shelter people who had fled their homes, killed 40 people, UN officials say.
The Israeli military said its soldiers had come under mortar fire from Hamas militants inside the school.
However, Unwra's Christopher Gunness said the agency was "99.9 per cent certain" that there were no militants or militant activity in the school compound, and called for an independent investigation into the incident.
A spokesman for Hamas denied there had been any hostile fire coming from the school.
Since the start of its military operation in Gaza, Israel has lost seven soldiers on the ground. Four people within Israel have been killed by rockets.
At least five hit southern Israel on Tuesday, one of them injuring a baby.
Support for truce
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice welcomed the French-Egyptian plan, saying the US was "pleased by and wish[es] to commend... that initiative".
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Israel's ambassador to the UN, Gabriela Shalev, did not say whether Israel would accept the proposal but said it would take it "very, very seriously".
The contours of a possible diplomatic agreement are in place, the BBC's Laura Trevelyan reports from the UN.
However, if Israel continues to control the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza and can choose to stop it at any time this seems unlikely to command the support of Hamas, our correspondent notes.
Casualty claims in Gaza cannot be independently verified. Israel is refusing to let international journalists into Gaza, despite a supreme court ruling to allow a limited number of reporters to enter the territory.
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