Israel conditionally welcomes cease-fire proposal

Before Wednesday's brief lull, Israel said it struck 40 Hamas targets overnight. Gaza health officials said strikes Wednesday morning killed eight people.

Outrage grew over an Israeli shelling Tuesday near a U.N. school, with the U.N. agency responsible for the building demanding an "impartial investigation" into the attack. Gaza health officials put the death toll from the strike at 39, while the U.N. says 40 were killed in the deadliest single strike of the fighting.

Israel says its forces fired at militants who launched mortars from that location.

The number of Palestinian fighters killed is unclear, as Hamas is keeping its casualties secret.

Israel's lull in operations brought some relief to civilians in Gaza, where much of the territory has no power or running water, because pumps are dependent on electricity.

More than 500 aid trucks have been shipped into Gaza since operations began. But even when aid crosses into Gaza military operations have prevented officials from distributing it, leading to food shortages in some areas.

A World Bank statement Wednesday said there are growing signs of a severe public health crisis in Gaza because of a shortage of drinking water and an escalating failure of the sewage system.

Militants hit the Israeli city of Ashkelon on Wednesday with a medium-range rocket, causing no casualties. Rocket fire has fallen off somewhat as Israeli troops tighten their hold on Gaza, taking over open areas used to launch rockets, but Gaza residents say militants are still launching from heavily populated areas.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said the initiative he proposed with Sarkozy calls for an immediate cease-fire by Israel and Palestinian factions for a limited period to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza and an urgent meeting of Israel and the Palestinian side on arrangements to prevent any repetition of military action and to deal with the causes.

International Mideast envoy Tony Blair said Tuesday the key to any cease-fire will be an arrangement to stop weapons smuggling over the Gaza-Egypt border.

Turkey will be tasked with putting together an international force in Gaza, according to a Mideastern diplomat familiar with the country's efforts to end the conflict. He said the responsibilities of the force were yet to be determined. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information, and Turkish officials would not immediately comment.

An Israeli lieutenant-colonel near the Gaza border in southern Israel said soldiers overwhelmingly opposed a truce. "We went in and we have to finish it off," said the officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because military regulations forbid him from speaking to the press.