Israel and Hamas agreed to a five-hour "humanitarian" pause in attacks starting early today, the most encouraging sign so far of a possible end to nine days of fighting.
Israel announced Wednesday it will hold its fire as part of plan brokered by the United Nations to allow Palestinians in Gaza to restock supplies. But Israel also pledged to retaliate if Hamas, which controls Gaza, launches rocket attacks then.
Later, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said the Gaza militants decided to respect the pause as well and would refrain from firing rockets during those hours.
The Israeli military attacked 37 targets in Gaza, including the homes of Hamas leaders Khalil al-Haya and Fathi Hamad, while Hamas fired another 11 rockets at Israel early Thursday, ahead of the planned cease-fire.
Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, Israel's top peace negotiator in U.S.-brokered peace talks that failed recently, said Wednesday that a further escalation of the operation in Gaza will be necessary if rocket fire from Gaza continues.
Her comments came hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Cabinet approved calling up another 8,000 reservists, bringing the number of reservists on active duty to 56,000.
A senior Israeli military official told reporters in Tel Aviv that the likelihood of a ground invasion into Gaza was "very high," both The New York Times and Washington Post reported. The official was not named.
Earlier Wednesday, Israeli warplanes intensified attacks, bombing a coastal area in Gaza where four Palestinian boys were killed. Israel warned tens of thousands of Gaza residents near the border to leave their homes.
At least seven people were wounded in the attack west of Gaza City, where the four boys — cousins ages 9 to 11 — were playing on a beach, said Ashraf Al Kedra, a Palestinian doctor. The Israeli military said it was looking into the incident.
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