Gazans have 3 hours to stock up on food, receive aid

Israel has informed the United Nations that it will suspend its military campaign between 1 and 4 pm, to allow Palestinian civilians to stock up with food, and for UN relief agency distribution centers to provide aid.

In the meanwhile the soldiers move deeper into densely populated areas. IAF targets more tunnels and 660 Palestinians are reported killed.

The IDF is mobilized for a third stage of the Gaza military operation, which would include more attacks from the air, as soldiers enter deeper into densely-populated towns. Palestinians are reporting that Israel struck a target in the Philadelphi corridor, along the Gazan-Egyptian border, where Israel has been going after smuggling tunnels.

The IDF says Hamas leaders are hiding in tunnels and hospitals. A senior Israeli officer said Wednesday morning that Hamas is trying to lure Israel into residential areas, and that IDF officers are advancing cautiously among booby-trapped homes.

The navy fired on Hamas outposts along the Gaza coast.

Since the beginning of the operation, Israel says that more than one thousand targets have been hit. Palestinian sources are reporting that 660 of their people have been killed.

Not much movement on the ceasefire front

Egypt is waiting for an Israeli reply to President Hosni Mubarak's proposal for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, that includes the opening of border crossings and the establishment of a monitoring apparatus to prevent weapons smuggling.

Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner of France said Tuesday night that the Egyptian president had invited Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to Cairo on Wednesday to discuss security arrangements on the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip.

A Kol Yisarel diplomatic reporter said that no decision has yet been taken to dispatch a delegation to Cairo to discuss the Egyptian initiative.

The Al Jazeera network, however, is reporting that Israel is sending two envoys to Cairo on behalf of Prime Minister Olmert to discuss the proposed ceasefire. The report does not say who the envoys are or when they would arrive in Egypt.

By REKA Israel