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Israel halts campaign for 3 hours for humanitarian aid

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-01-07 20:25

GAZA CITY– Israel's military paused its Gaza offensive for three hours Wednesday to allow food and fuel to reach besieged Palestinians, and the country's leaders debated whether to accept an international cease-fire plan or expand the assault against Hamas.

Israeli armoured personnel carriers (APCs) move towards the border before crossing from Israel into the northern Gaza Strip January 7, 2009. [Agencies]

With criticism rising of the operation's spiraling civilian death toll and Gazans increasingly suffering the effects of nonstop airstrikes and shelling, Israel's military said opened "humanitarian corridors" to allow aid supplies to reach Palestinians.

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Israeli military spokesman Peter Lerner said there would be a "recess in offensive operations" to allow in supplies and fuel. Government officials said the lull would last from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m local time (6 a.m. to 9 a.m. EST). The military said it had been given the directive by the government.

As Israel's leadership met in the morning in Tel Aviv, sounds of heavy gunfire and thick plumes of smoke engulfed the Zeitoun neighborhood east of Gaza City. Israel said it struck 40 Hamas targets during the hours of darkness. Gaza health officials said new strikes Wednesday morning killed eight people.

Outrage over an Israeli strike Tuesday near a UN school that killed 39 people continued, with the UN agency responsible for the building demanding an "impartial investigation" into the attack.

About 300 of the more than 670 Palestinians killed so far are civilians, according to Palestinian and UN figures. Of those killed, at least 130 are children age 16 and under, says the Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights, which tracks casualties.

The number of armed fighters killed remains unclear. Hamas fighters are known to have begun wearing civilian clothes and the organization is keeping its casualties secret and housing its wounded and dead in undisclosed locations.

Israel has lost six soldiers since launching a ground offensive on Saturday, and four other Israelis have been killed by rocket fire, three of them civilians.

Israel's lull in operations could ease the plight of civilians in Gaza, where much of the territory has no power or running water, because pumps are dependent on electricity.

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