JERUSALEM — JERUSALEM -
Israel and Hamas scaled back their fighting in the Gaza Strip yesterday and considered a cease-fire proposal from Egypt and France, even as Israeli leaders weighed a deeper assault into the Palestinian militant group's urban strongholds.
Fighting on the 12th day of the air, land and sea offensive all but halted for three hours during a unilateral Israeli pause. Israeli officials said they wanted to give diplomacy a chance, but they indicated that a decision to end or intensify the operation, aimed at halting rocket fire into Israel, could come by week's end.
"From Israel's perspective, there's no contradiction between pursuing the military targets in Gaza and working in parallel on the diplomatic track," said Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev. He added that "a weaker Hamas is a Hamas that's easier to contain" under any negotiated cease-fire.
During the pause, tens of thousands of beleaguered Palestinians ventured into Gaza's streets to stock up on food and fuel, flee to safer quarters or simply unwind. Fighting bracketed the lull, but yesterday's Palestinian death toll, 22, was the lowest of any day since Israel launched the offensive Dec. 27.
Israel, responding to a worldwide outcry over the punishing toll on Gaza's 1.5 million people, suspended its offensive to allow humanitarian agencies to distribute relief supplies. Israeli officials said such lulls would be declared daily.
Hamas largely respected the 1 p.m.-to-4 p.m. pause, which brought calm except for a few reported violations on each side.
It was the first letup in an assault that has killed more than 700 Palestinians, of whom the United Nations says more than one-fourth are civilians. Ten Israelis have been killed since the fighting began, including three civilians.
Like Israel, Hamas said it was studying the cease-fire proposal, which is being fleshed out in negotiations involving the United States, Israel, European nations, Egypt and other Arab states.
"Given the diplomatic efforts, I am confident that we can agree within 48 hours on a formula both sides can accept," Ahmed Yusuf, a senior adviser to the Hamas government in Gaza, told the Israel's Ynet news.
French officials said they had received a commitment by phone from Syrian leader Bashar Assad to urge Hamas to accept a truce. Syria is a patron of the group.
