Israel urged to accept Egyptian truce

Israel's main ally, the United States, joined Europe in urging it yesterday to accept an Egyptian-proposed ceasefire and curtail its 12-day-old offensive in Gaza, where fighting resumed after a three-hour truce.

As its assault continued after a three-hour pause to let aid agencies distribute food, Israel's officials said they accepted the "principles" of the proposal, notably denying Hamas the ability to rearm through smuggling tunnels from Egypt. But they said the details needed to be worked out.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pressed Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni by telephone, as the United Nations Security Council weighed action to end Israel's attacks on the Islamist group, in which 653 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed according to medical officials.

"We are trying to move forward," said a senior US official travelling with Dr Rice to New York where she planned to push the staged plan for a truce between Israel and Hamas.

The plan calls for a halt to rocket attacks on the Jewish state that Israel said triggered its offensive on December 27, the opening of border crossings into the coastal territory - a key demand of Hamas -and an end to weapons comings into Gaza.

Hamas also confirmed it was discussing the proposals, partly brokered by France, but the violence continued. The latest victims were a Palestinian man and three children killed in an Israeli air strike on a car in the north of the Gaza Strip.

US president-elect Barack Obama also jacked up pressure on Israel to end the campaign by saying after a long silence he was "deeply concerned" and would "engage immediately" on the Middle East situation once he takes office on January 20.

Mr Obama told a news conference he would tackle "not only the short term situation but building a process whereby we can achieve a more lasting peace in the region."

Israeli analysts believe Israel faces a deadline to wrap up its Gaza campaign by the time Mr Obama is sworn in, or risk a possible strain in ties with Washington at the outset of the new administration.

The Bush administration said a ceasefire was urgently needed but the talks were complicated by the number of parties involved. "We are working to do it as fast as we possibly can," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said in Washington.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said: "I have seen the first glimmerings of the possibility of a ceasefire." He added: "It's far too early to say we can get a breakthrough."