Israel calls airstrike halt on Gaza amid Egypt PM’s visit

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said all offensive actions would be called off during the Egyptian Prime Minister's visit, as long as Palestinian groups refrain from firing rockets across the border.

Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Kandil is leading a delegation to Gaza to explore the possibility of brokering a ceasefire.

A senior Israeli official said: "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has agreed to an Egyptian request to cease all offensive operations in Gaza during the visit of the Egyptian prime minister there this morning, which is supposed to last for about three hours.

"In the answer that has been forwarded to Egyptians, we've said that the Israel Defense Forces will cease fire on the condition that there won't be fire from Gaza into Israel during that period."

However, the temporary truce comes after the Palestinian territory suffered a second night of heavy bombardment, with Israeli warplanes hitting targets in and around Gaza City.

"There have been 130 strikes overnight until now," Hamas interior ministry spokesman Islam Shahwan said.

He said the strikes destroyed a building belonging to the interior ministry, while there were also reports that training positions used by various Palestinian militant groups had also been hit.

Meanwhile, the Israeli army said 11 Palestinian rockets had been fired from Gaza at Israel overnight.

Gazans also continued to be concerned that a ground assault remains a possibility as troops, tanks and armoured personnel carriers massed near Israel's southern border with the Palestinian territory.

It has given the green light to the call-up of up to 30,000 army reservists - another strong indication that Israeli troops are preparing to enter the Gaza Strip.

Two days of Israeli air strikes have killed 19 Palestinians, including seven militants and 12 civilians - among them six children and a pregnant woman. A Palestinian rocket killed three Israelis in the town of Kiryat Malachi on Thursday.

Two more rockets from Gaza landed near Tel Aviv in the first such attack on Israel's commercial capital in 20 years. One fell into the Mediterranean Sea and the other in an uninhabited part of one of the suburbs south of the city.