Gaza bombardment resumes after three-hour pause

Residents of Gaza used the three-hour pause in Israel's bombardment on Wednesday to shop for supplies and visit relatives in hospital, according to aid agencies in the territory. Then the air attacks resumed.

The death toll after 12 days of aerial bombardment and ground warfare now stands at 683 Palestinians - at least 200 of them children - and 11 Israelis, seven of them soldiers, four of them civilians killed by Hamas rockets.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) dropped leaflets warning Gazans to stay at home before bombing southern Gaza on Wednesday afternoon. They read: "Because Hamas uses your houses to hide and smuggle military weapons, the IDF will attack the area."

On the diplomatic front, the Israeli government said on Wednesday that it accepted the principles of a ceasefire plan proposed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak but wanted to see the details. Israel was due to send an envoy, Amos Gilad, to Cairo on Thursday to discuss the proposal.

Hamas has also "welcomed" the Franco-Epyptian initiative. Ahmed Yusuf, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza, wrote on the Guardian's Comment is Free website: "Hamas welcomes the Egyptian-French initiative. We recognise that it contains many positive elements but also elements that need more careful consideration."

Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas is due to visit Cairo this week, as is a delegation from Hamas. At the United Nations in New York, however, there was deadlock, with two ceasefire proposals still on the table on Wednesday night unsigned.

The first is a draft UN resolution proposed by Libya, which demands an immediate, permanent ceasefire in Gaza. It has widespread backing from Arab nations, but has no hope of being backed by the US which, as a permanent member of the Security Council and Israel's chief ally, will veto the plan.

The second proposal is a draft UN statement written by the UK, with US and French cooperation, which calls for both the Palestinian and Israeli civilian populations to be protected. It is supported by the US but is opposed by some Arab countries, who want a full UN Security Council resolution.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband remained in New York to discuss the situation further on Thursday with other international statesmen and diplomats including the US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice.

"Our goal must be the stabilisation and normalisation of life in Gaza," said Rice. But she warned that any ceasefire "has to be a solution that does not allow the rearmament of Hamas".

LAST UPDATED 7:21 AM, JANUARY 8, 2009