Three-hour lull in Gaza fighting ends
Israel announces it will stop bombings on Gaza Strip for three hours each day
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Wednesday, 07, Jan 2009 07:36
Israel's three-hour break in its bombing campaign upon the Gaza Strip has ended after allowing aid to be distributed throughout the Palestinian territory.
From 13:00 local time (11:00 GMT) on Wednesday the Jewish state stopped its assault momentarily. A pattern, it claims, that is due continue for the foreseeable future.
Reports also suggest today that Israel and the Palestinian authority have accepted the terms of a Franco-Egyptian truce plan for Gaza.
Overnight some 40 airstrikes were launched into the territory, with more than 130 people killed throughout the day, making it the deadliest of the 11 days thus far in the conflict.
Israel earlier declared there had been no missiles launched from Gaza across the border on Wednesday, the requirement they said they needed to end their military campaign.
The temporary ceasefire will "allow resident to re-supply and get aid", the Israeli government claimed, adding it has agreed to open a humanitarian corridor into the Gaza Strip.
More than 600 Palestinians are reported to have been killed since Israel launched its military campaign last month, of which at least 195 are children, local health officials claim.
International pressure has continued to increase on both Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas to agree on a proposed ceasefire.
On Tuesday, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas urged the United Nations security council to act on the Israeli offensive.
"The world will accept no less than an urgent intervention by the security council to... deter the aggressor," he said.
The charity Christian Aid also warned of attacks on medical crews in the region.
Abdalhadi Abu Khousa of the Palestinian Medical Relief Society added: "It's very difficult for first aiders to move from one place to another. It's war. All the time, everyone is under fire in all of Gaza.
"First we need pressure from outside to stop the Israeli war. We follow the marches and demonstrations in other countries and that gives us some hope. When the war stops, we will be able to cope."