GAZA/JERUSALEM - Israel said on Wednesday it was not setting a timeframe for an end to hostilities with Gaza as its military pounded the Palestinian enclave with air strikes and Hamas militants unleashed new cross-border rocket attacks.
In a sign of diplomatic movement, however, an Egyptian security source said the two sides had agreed to a ceasefire in principle after help from mediators, but details were being negotiated in secret amid public denials of a deal to prevent it from collapsing.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made no mention of any halt to the fighting in public remarks at a briefing to foreign ambassadors to Israel, saying his country was engaged in "forceful deterrence" to prevent future conflict with Hamas. Some 50 rockets were fired from the enclave, the Israeli military said, with sirens sounding in the coastal city of Ashdod, south of Tel Aviv, and in areas closer to the Gaza border. There were no reports of injuries or damage overnight but days of rocket fire have unsettled many Israelis.
"Whoever wants to learn about the humanity of the should come to the Gaza Strip and look at the houses that got destroyed on top of those who lived in them," said university lecturer Ahmed al-Astal, standing by the rubble of his house in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.Israel, which blames the latest hostilities on Hamas, says it issues warnings to evacuate buildings that are to be fired on and that it attacks only what it regards as military targets.
Hamas' leading role in confronting Israel over Jerusalem, an issue that resonates with many Palestinians, poses a challenge to its main rival, West Bank-based President Mahmoud Abbas, who last month cancelled a parliamentary election in which the group appeared likely to make gains. Egypt and U.N. mediators also stepped up diplomatic efforts, and the U.N. General Assembly will discuss the violence on Thursday.
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