Israel Rejects Proposal for 48-Hour Truce

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Conflict in Gaza Continues

Assault on Gaza Strip continues as rockets fall on southern Israel.

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Faced with growing calls to help suffering Palestinians, Israel announced Wednesday that it was permitting shipments of humanitarian supplies to enter Gaza. Israel controls checkpoints in the strip. More than 90 trucks carrying food and medicine crossed into Gaza on Wednesday, and more were expected Thursday.

"We say publicly, and we mean it: The innocent civilian population is not our enemy," Regev said.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner proposed a 48-hour cease-fire that would allow humanitarian groups to ferry into Gaza medicine, food, water and other basic necessities that are in short supply. The proposal was part of a broader effort, which intensified Wednesday, by the Quartet of Middle East peace mediators -- the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia -- to halt the bloodshed.

White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said President Bush spoke Wednesday to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who reassured Bush that Israel was targeting Hamas operatives and trying to avoid civilian casualties. When asked whether the two had discussed a timetable for a cease-fire, Johndroe said they had not discussed anything specific.

"What's more important is the goal. As I said, we all want to see an end to the violence as soon as possible," Johndroe said at a news conference in Crawford, Tex., where Bush is visiting his family ranch. "President Bush wants to see an end to the violence. Prime Minister Olmert wants to see an end to the violence. But I think from the prime minister's perspective, an end to the violence means that Hamas stops firing rockets into Israel and Israel won't have to go after the rocket launchers."

Yigal Palmor, a spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, said the cease-fire proposal "did not contain the necessary elements to make the truce permanent. It lacks a plan to enforce the cease-fire, to make sure Hamas won't shoot rockets into Israel anymore, and stop the smuggling of weapons."

"It does not contain any guarantees," he added.

Palmor said Israel was open to future diplomacy. "There is a lot of work to be done," he said.

On Thursday, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is scheduled to fly to Paris to meet with French President Nicolas Sarkozy to discuss ways to end the crisis.

Arab foreign ministers meeting in Egypt called on Palestinian factions to put aside their differences. In a final statement, the ministers also urged the U.N. Security Council to issue a resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire. The Security Council met in an emergency session to discuss the violence but adjourned without a vote.

The streets of Gaza City were relatively quiet Wednesday. Residents wandered around their homes, fixing windows and doors and cleaning up debris from the streets.

Tamer Mansour, 36, a local television editor who lived near Haniyeh's office, walked up the stairs of his damaged apartment complex. His apartment, filled with shattered glass and rubble, was permeated with a burning odor, he said. He and his wife cleaned up the mess. But they are afraid to live there again. A Hamas commander resides on the same block, he said.

"All of the neighbors are afraid to go home because they expect his house will be bombed," Mansour said. "We're still afraid they might bomb Haniyeh's office again."

The Israeli government has barred foreign journalists from entering Gaza. On Wednesday, after a petition by the Foreign Press Association, Israel's Supreme Court ruled that the government must allow journalists entry. It gave the government until Thursday morning to allow limited access.

Staff writer Nelson Hernandez in Crawford and special correspondent Islam Abdel Kareem in Gaza City contributed to this report.