Israel bombards Hamas hours before cease-fire vote

Ibrahim Razak and Joseph Federman , The Associated Press , Gaza City

Israel bombarded dozens of Hamas targets Saturday hours before a government vote on an Egyptian brokered cease-fire, prompting Egypt to demand an immediate halt to a 3-week-old Gaza offensive.

The proposal calls for a unilateral Israeli cease-fire in its initial stage, but Hamas has sent mixed signals on whether it would reciprocate.

Hamas' exiled leadership vowed to continue the fight against Israel. But after weeks of heavy losses, leaders inside Gaza have signaled they are ready for a deal. A Hamas delegation was in Cairo for more truce negotiations.

Israeli leaders were expected to approve the Egyptian proposal Saturday. Fighting would stop immediately for 10 days. Israeli forces would remain in Gaza during that time and the territory's border crossing with Israel and Egypt would remain closed until security arrangements are made to prevent Hamas arms smuggling.

Osama Hamdan, a top Hamas official based in Lebanon, said the group would not halt its attacks until Israel withdraws its troops from Gaza and ends its blockade of the seaside strip. "If any vision does not achieve these things, then we will continue in the battle on the ground," he said.

With the vote still pending, it was unclear how Israel would respond to violations of a cease-fire, though the country's leaders have made clear they are ready to keep pushing forward with an offensive that has killed more than 1,100 Palestinians in three weeks, according to Palestinian and U.N. figures.

Israel's key demand is that it receive guarantees that Hamas halt the smuggling of rockets, explosives and other weapons through the porous Egyptian border.

Under the deal, Egypt would shut down weapons smuggling routes with international help and discussions on opening Gaza's blockaded border crossings - Hamas' key demand - would take place at a later date.

The Israeli vote was set after Israel and the U.S. signed on Friday a "memorandum of understanding" in Washington that calls for expanded intelligence cooperation to prevent Hamas from rearming. Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who signed the deal, called it "a vital complement for a cessation of hostility."

Egypt has been a key interlocutor in weeks of negotiations to end the assault on Gaza sparked by years of Hamas rocket fire at southern Israel.

"I demand Israel today stop its military operations immediately," Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said. "I demand from its leaders an immediate and unconditional cease-fire and I demand from them a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Strip."

Israel launched the offensive on Dec. 27 to try to halt near-daily Hamas rocket attacks against southern Israel. Palestinian medics say the fighting has killed at least 1,140 Palestinians - roughly half of them civilians - and Israel's bombing campaign caused massive destruction in the Gaza Strip. Thirteen Israelis have been killed, four by rocket fire and nine in ground battles in Gaza, according to the government.

Israel Radio reported that a truce summit could be held in Egypt as early as Sunday with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Israeli leaders in attendance.

Speaking to Lebanon's parliament Saturday, Ban said Hamas must stop rocket attacks on Israel and the Jewish state must end its offensive and withdraw its troops from Gaza.

"We cannot wait for all the details, the mechanisms, to be conclusively negotiated and agreed, while civilians continue to be traumatized, injured or killed," he said. "We have no more time to lose. We demand an immediate cease-fire," said Ban.

In the meantime, there was no slowdown in the offensive. A total of 13 Palestinians were killed in battles throughout Gaza Saturday, Palestinian medics said.

Israeli warplanes dropped bombs throughout the night on suspected smuggling tunnels in the southern border town of Rafah. The bombs could be heard whistling through the air, shook the ground upon impact and left a dusty haze in the air.

In the northern town of Beit Lahiya, Israeli shells struck a U.N. school where 1,600 people had sought shelter to flee the fighting. One shell scored a direct hit on the top floor of the three-story building, killing two boys, U.N. officials said. An adjacent room was turned into a blackened mess of charred concrete and twisted metal bed frames.

John Ging, the top U.N. official in Gaza, condemned the attack - the latest in a series of Israeli shellings that have struck U.N. installations.

"The question that has to be asked is for all those children and all those innocent people who have been killed in this conflict. Were they war crimes? Were they war crimes that resulted in the deaths of the innocents during this conflict? That question has to be answered," he said.

The Israeli army said it was launching a high-level investigation into the shelling, as well as four other attacks that hit civilian targets, including the U.N. headquarters in Gaza. The army investigation also includes the shelling of a hospital, a media center and the home of a well-known doctor.

An Israeli military spokesman said the investigations would be handled at the command level. He spoke on condition of anonymity pending a formal announcement.

Previously, Israel has accused Hamas of using schools, mosques, hospitals and residential areas to stage attacks.

The military said its planes struck 50 Hamas locations overnight, including rocket-launching sites, smuggling tunnels, weapons storehouses, bunkers and minefields. Some five rockets were fired into Israel, causing minor damage but no injuries, the army said.

Israeli troops entered a small central Gaza town and nearby housing project, taking over houses and positioning on rooftops. Hamas militants fired assault rifles, mortars and rockets at the Israeli forces in tanks and military vehicles, the sound of clashes audible from Gaza City. Warplanes fired missiles at buildings and nearby farms, witnesses said.

"A shell landed in my bedroom and we are now sitting in the kitchen. We are 17 people here," said Jihan Sarsawi, a resident of the housing project. Speaking by telephone, she said residents were trapped in their homes.

The violence followed Israeli envoy Amos Gilad's journey to Cairo on Friday. He returned to report "substantial progress" in truce talks with Egyptian mediators, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office announced. The Israeli vote comes ahead of President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration on Tuesday, and Israeli elections next month.

In an interview with the Israeli YNet news Web site, Livni indicated that Israel would renew its offensive if Hamas militants continued to fire rockets at Israel even after a truce agreement was reached.

"This campaign is not a one-time event," she said. "The test will be the day after. That is the test of deterrence."

The agreement outlines a framework under which the United States commits detection and surveillance equipment, as well as logistical help and training to Israel, Egypt and other nations to be used in monitoring Gaza's land and sea borders.

Earlier, Rice said she hoped European countries would work out similar bilateral agreements with Israel.