JERUSALEM – The Israeli Defense Ministry says the point man in efforts to reach a cease-fire with Hamas is headed to Egypt later this week for what officials call decisive talks.
Egypt has been a key mediator in attempts to forge a truce during Israel's 18-day offensive in Gaza.
Israel's decision to send Defense Ministry official Amos Gilad to Egypt on Thursday could be a signal of progress. Gilad had put off the trip for days, saying the time was not yet ripe.
Defense officials say that depending on what happens in Cairo, Israel will decide to move closer to a cease-fire or whether to launch a new, even tougher stage of its offensive. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing sensitive policy matters.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli ground troops closed in on downtown Gaza City on Tuesday, battling Palestinian militants in the streets of a densely populated neighborhood, destroying dozens of homes and sending terrified residents running for cover as gunfire and explosions echoed in the distance.
Israel's push into Tel Hawwa neighborhood was the farthest it has moved into Gaza City during its 18-day offensive against Hamas militants, and brought Israel's ground forces within a mile (1.5 kilometers) of the crowded city center. Palestinian hospital officials say more than 900 Palestinians, half of them civilians, have been killed.
Israel launched the offensive on Dec. 27 to end years of Palestinian rocket attacks on its southern towns, and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has vowed to press forward with an "iron fist," despite growing international calls for an end to the fighting.
Palestinian rocket fire has been greatly reduced, but not halted altogether, since the offensive was launched. Some 15 rockets and mortar shells were fired toward Israel Tuesday, causing no injuries, the army said.
U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon was headed to the region Tuesday to press for a cease-fire, and a Hamas delegation resumed talks in Cairo with Egyptian intelligence officials. Egypt, a key mediator between Israel and Hamas, has been leading efforts to forge a truce.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said the military operation would continue in order to stop rocket fire and arms smuggling into Gaza. "We are working toward those two goals while at the same time keeping an eye on the diplomatic initiatives," he said during a tour of an air force base.
The army has largely avoided the difficult terrain of Gaza City's narrow alleyways and crowded neighborhoods.
Palestinian witnesses said the Israeli forces moved overnight about 300 yards (meters) into Tel Hawwa, a neighborhood of high-rise buildings on the southeastern edge of Gaza City.
Palestinian medical officials reported at least 21 people killed in fighting throughout Gaza, though the Israeli army suggested the number could be higher.
One resident, Khader Mussa, said he fled his house while waving a white flag as the Israeli forces advanced. He spent the night huddling in the basement of a relative with 25 other people, including his pregnant wife and his parents.
"Thank God we survived this time and got out alive from here. But we don't know how long we'll be safe in my brother's home," Mussa, 35, told The Associated Press by telephone.
Several buildings were on fire, witnesses said, including a lumberyard. The sound battle could be heard clearly around the city of 400,000 as the Israeli forces, backed by artillery and attack helicopters, moved into neighborhoods east and south of Gaza City. Israeli gunboats shelled the coast from the west.
The Israeli military said it carried out some 60 airstrikes overnight, hitting groups of Hamas militants holed up in a hotel, a house and a mosque. It said it also struck 15 squads of gunmen, rocket launching sites and 15 smuggling tunnels along the Egyptian border.
The army said it had killed or wounded about 30 militants, and that three soldiers were wounded in overnight fighting. Among them was an officer who was seriously wounded when a bomb exploded in a northern Gaza house that he was searching. Weapons, including a machine gun, were later found in the house, the military said.
Dr. Moaiya Hassanain, a Palestinian Health Ministry official, said dozens of calls for ambulances had been received, but they could not be dispatched because of the fighting.
The Gaza fighting has raised tensions around the region and galvanized anger toward Israel throughout the Arab world. On Tuesday, at least one gunman opened fire at an Israeli army patrol along the desert border between Israel and Jordan, the military said. There were no casualties, and Jordan said the claim was "baseless."
There was a similar shooting on the Israel-Syria border on Sunday, and last week militants in Lebanon fired rockets into an Israeli town in an apparent attempt to draw Israel into a second front.
The Israeli military has tightly controlled information from the battlefield, but indications have been that Hamas has not put up a serious fight.
Of the nine Israeli soldiers killed during the offensive, four were killed in "friendly fire incidents," a military inquiry concluded. Repeated Hamas claims of spectacular attacks on the Israelis have turned out to be false.
Speaking in parliament on Tuesday, Israel's military chief said his troops have achieved a lot but "still have work to do" in fighting Hamas in Gaza.
"The soldiers are doing exceptional work, with many achievements in inflicting damage on Hamas, its infrastructure, its government and military wing," he said.
Diplomatic efforts to end more than two weeks of fighting have moved slowly, in part because of the wide gaps between Israel and Hamas.
Israel says it will push forward with the offensive until Hamas ends all rocket fire on southern Israel, and there are guarantees the Iranian-backed militant group will stop smuggling weapons into Gaza through the porous Egyptian border.
Hamas has said it will only observe a cease-fire if Israel withdraws from Gaza.
Turkey's foreign minister, Ali Babacan, urged the sides to find the political will "to stop the bloodshed" and pledged his government's support in finding a solution.
"Nobody should tolerate what's going on in Gaza," Babacon said during a visit to Kosovo. "Turkey is actively engaged, actively involved and working closely with Egypt to have a solution as soon as possible."
Much of the diplomacy focuses on an area of southern Gaza just across the Egyptian border that serves as a weapons smuggling route, making Egypt critical to both sides in any deal.
Israel wants smuggling tunnels along the border sealed and monitored as part of any deal, and has been bombing the tunnels throughout the campaign.
The U.N. Security Council has already passed a resolution calling for a cease-fire. Ban was headed to the Mideast on Tuesday to enforce the measure.
Speaking at U.N. headquarters in New York on Monday, Ban said he has been on the phone constantly with top officials in the Middle East, Europe and the United States promoting the cease-fire. But he said phone calls are not a substitute for direct talks with leaders who have influence on the parties.
"To both sides, I say: Just stop, now," the U.N. chief said. "Too many people have died. There has been too much civilian suffering. Too many people, Israelis and Palestinians, live in daily fear of their lives."
The secretary-general said he plans to meet senior officials in Egypt and Jordan on Wednesday, then head to Israel, the West Bank, Turkey, Lebanon, Syria and Kuwait. He has no plans to go to Gaza.
The fighting has raised concerns about a looming humanitarian disaster in Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of people are without power and running water.
The Israeli army said about 100 truckloads of humanitarian aid, including wheat, flour and medical supplies, were expected to be let into the territory on Tuesday. The aid was sent through during a daily three-hour lull that Israel has declared to allow humanitarian supplies to be delivered.
In Brussels, the European Union's aid chief said Tuesday that Israel has not respected international humanitarian aid during the war. EU Commissioner Louis Michel, speaking in a published interview, cited the high number of civilian casualties and difficulties of delivering aid to the needed.
In Oslo, Norway, meanwhile, the head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, Karen Abu Zayd, urged the Israeli army to do more to allow supplies into the besieged area.
"We are getting a lot of help from the Israeli Defense Forces on the one crossing that's open to get more and more trucks in, but it's just not enough," she said.
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Topic: Israeli official plans 'decisive' talks in Egypt (Read 401 times)