French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Wednesday Israel and the Palestinian Authority had accepted a truce plan for Gaza declared by Egypt on Tuesday. "The president is delighted by the acceptance by Israel and the Palestinian Authority of the Franco-Egyptian plan presented last night in Sharm el-Sheikh by (Egyptian) President (Hosni) Mubarak," said a statement from Sarkozy's office.
"The head of state calls for this plan to be implemented as quickly as possible for the suffering of the population to stop."
However, Israel said that it "welcomes" an Egyptian-French ceasefire proposal for Gaza as long as such a deal guarantees a halt to rocket fire and weapons smuggling. Hamas said Israel does not seem to be serious about reaching a cease-fire. "Israel is still widening and escalating its aggression and is not giving any positive signals in response to these efforts," Ghazi Hammad said.
On the ground, Israel's military scaled back attacks in Gaza for three hours Wednesday to allow food and fuel to reach besieged Palestinians. Israeli military spokesman Peter Lerner said the "recess in offensive operations" was aimed at allowing in supplies and fuel, and would last from from 1 to 4 p.m local time. He said similar lulls in the coming days would be considered.
According to Lerner, even during the pause, "For every attack against the army, there will be a response." Gaza residents reported scattered gunfire and explosions even after it was supposed to have gone into effect, but the scale of fighting appeared to drop.
