November 20, 2012: Israel has put plans for a ground operation in Gaza "on hold"
to give talks to secure a truce with Hamas militants a chance, according to BBC reports
on Tuesday. It is understood Israel has set a Thursday deadline for the Egypt-brokered
talks to succeed.
The current conflict began last Wednesday when Israel killed
Hamas's military commander, saying it wanted to end rocket attacks on Israel. More
than 110 Palestinians and three Israelis have been killed so far.
Israeli ministers
met late into the night on Monday to discuss Egyptian truce proposals, as officials
are due to restart talks in Cairo. Israeli troops are massed along the border, raising
fears of a ground offensive similar to that of 2008-09.
However, Israeli officials
said that any possible ground invasion of Gaza has been put on hold while the ceasefire
talks continue. A spokesman told the BBC that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had
telephoned US President Barack Obama.
"Israel wants talks to succeed but we're
prepared to go into Gaza," the spokesman said. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
is due in Israel for crisis talks.
Mrs Clinton was to underline that "the
best way to solve this is through diplomacy, so that you have a peaceful settlement
that ends that rocket fire and allows for a broader calm in the region", said Mr Obama's
Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes. Meanwhile, the UN Security Council
is debating a statement calling on both parties to stop attacks and address humanitarian
needs in Gaza.
BBC correspondents in Gaza reported that it had been a relatively
quiet night, although the Israeli military said it had carried out about 100 strikes
mainly on smuggling tunnels and underground rocket-launching facilities. UN Secretary
General Ban Ki-moon met Arab League Chief Nabil al-Arabi in Cairo on Tuesday.