Israel poised to halt Gaza attacks

[DogPoundPup]

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Even as the stage was being set for a possible end to the Israeli offensive, which has so far claimed more than 1,150 Palestinian lives, the military was staging a fresh wave of deadly air strikes on the beleaguered territory.

At least 10 people were killed late on Friday in an Israeli strike on a house in Gaza City during a funeral wake, according to Palestinian medics.

They were not immediately able to say whether the explosion was caused by a tank shell or an air strike.

The deaths came shortly after a woman and her five children - all under the age of 13 - were killed when an air strike destroyed their house in Jabaliya, north of Gaza City, according to medics.

Earlier Khaled Meshaal, the exiled head of Hamas's politburo, told Arab leaders that his movement would not accept any ceasefire that did not provide for a full Israeli pullout and the opening of Gaza's borders, including into Egypt .

"I assure you: despite all the destruction in Gaza, we will not accept Israel's conditions for a ceasefire," he told a meeting of Arab and other leaders in Doha shortly before Hamas was invited to Cairo for a fresh round of talks.


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After signing the deal in Washington, Livni told Israeli television that smuggling weapons into Gaza was tantamount to firing at Israel .

"They continue doing this, Israel has the right to respond," she said.

Rice said she hoped the agreement, under which the US will step up its surveillance on land, at sea and in the air in a bid to stamp out arms smuggling, would advance efforts to secure a ceasefire.

"There's a lot of work ahead here, but I certainly hope that we can push this to conclusion or ceasefire very, very soon."

Hamas , which seized control of Gaza in June 2007 in a violent coup that ousted forces loyal to the Western-backed Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, wants to be represented at Gaza's Rafah border crossing with Egypt .

Israel however has demanded that the border be monitored by Abbas's forces, and rejected a proposal by Hamas , conveyed via Egypt , for a year-long renewable ceasefire, according to an Israeli diplomatic source.

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/5245611/israel-poised-halt-gaza-attacks/