NYT: "Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel announced late Saturday night that the Israeli military would begin a unilateral cease-fire in Gaza within hours while negotiations continued on how to stop the resupply of Hamas through smuggling from Egypt."

WP:

More than 1,140 Palestinians, including about 500 women and children, have been killed in Gaza since the fighting began Dec. 27, according to Gazan health officials. Thirteen Israelis, including 10 soldiers, have died.

The stated goal of the Israeli offensive was to weaken, if not destroy, Hamas so that it could no longer launch missiles and unguided rockets from Gaza into southern Israel. Palestinian fighters have fired more than 7,000 of the rockets since 2005, according to the Israeli military, and their range and lethality have progressively improved.

Although Hamas absorbed heavy losses in manpower and materiel over the past three weeks, it never lost its capacity to launch strikes on Israel. On Saturday, Palestinian fighters aimed about two dozen missiles and rockets into Israel, including several that landed after Olmert's speech.

More.

Update: NYT: Hamas agrees to one week ceasefire.

Posted by Laura at January 17, 2009 04:32 PM