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Gaza fighting rages despite cease-fire proposal

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-01-08 07:37

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Israel resumed its Gaza offensive Wednesday, bombing heavily around suspected smuggling tunnels near the border with Egypt after a three-hour lull to allow in humanitarian aid. Hamas responded with a rocket barrage.

Protesters shout during a demonstration against Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak and Israel's attacks on Gaza in front of the Egyptian embassy in Ankara January 7, 2009. [Agencies]

Despite the heavy fighting, strides were made on the diplomatic front with the US throwing its weight behind a deal being brokered by France and Egypt.

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While the Security Council failed to reach agreement on a cease-fire resolution, Egypt's UN Ambassador Maged Abdelaziz said representatives of Israel, the Palestinians and Hamas have agreed to meet in Cairo Thursday for talks brokered by Egypt.

Israeli airstrikes killed 29 Palestinians on Wednesday after leaflets were dropped warning residents to leave the area "because Hamas uses your houses to hide and smuggle military weapons."

The casualties brought the total Palestinian death toll during Israel's 12-day assault to 688 and drove home the complexities of finding a diplomatic endgame for Israel's Gaza invasion. Ten Israelis have been killed, including three civilians, since the offensive began Dec. 27.

More than 5,000 people have fled the border area, seeking refuge at two UN schools turned into temporary shelters.

The fury of the renewed fighting made it appear each side was scrambling to get in as many hits as possible before a truce could materialize.

"I feel like the ground is shaking when we hear the shelling. People are terrified," said Fida Kishta, a resident of the Gaza-Egypt border area where Israeli planes destroyed 16 empty houses.

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