Israel and Hamas agree to 5-hour lull in fighting

GAZA CITY — Israel and Hamas agreed to a five-hour "humanitarian" pause in attacks starting early today, the most encouraging sign so far of a possible end to nine days of fighting.

Israel announced Wednesday it will hold its fire as part of plan brokered by the United Nations to allow Palestinians in Gaza to restock supplies. But Israel also pledged to retaliate if Hamas, which controls Gaza, launches rocket attacks then.

Later, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said the Gaza militants decided to respect the pause as well and would refrain from firing rockets during those hours.

The Israeli military attacked 37 targets in Gaza, including the homes of Hamas leaders Khalil al-Haya and Fathi Hamad, while Hamas fired another 11 rockets at Israel early Thursday, ahead of the planned cease-fire.

Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, Israel's top peace negotiator in U.S.-brokered peace talks that failed recently, said Wednesday that a further escalation of the operation in Gaza will be necessary if rocket fire from Gaza continues.

Her comments came hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Cabinet approved calling up another 8,000 reservists, bringing the number of reservists on active duty to 56,000.

A senior Israeli military official told reporters in Tel Aviv that the likelihood of a ground invasion into Gaza was "very high," both The New York Times and Washington Post reported. The official was not named.

Earlier Wednesday, Israeli warplanes intensified attacks, bombing a coastal area in Gaza where four Palestinian boys were killed. Israel warned tens of thousands of Gaza residents near the border to leave their homes.

At least seven people were wounded in the attack west of Gaza City, where the four boys — cousins ages 9 to 11 — were playing on a beach, said Ashraf Al Kedra, a Palestinian doctor. The Israeli military said it was looking into the incident.

"It's a cold-blooded massacre," said the boys' uncle, Abdel Kareem Baker, 41. "It's a shame they didn't identify them as kids with all of the advanced technology they claim they're using."

The United Nations has said the majority of those killed in Gaza as a result of Israel's Operation Protective Edge, which started July 8, have been civilians. Israel blames Hamas for hiding and launching rockets in crowded public areas and using civilians as shields.

Israel accepted an Egyptian truce proposal Tuesday that called for a halt to hostilities, but Hamas rejected the deal, saying it did not believe Egypt's rulers — who deposed a Hamas-friendly government in Cairo last year — could be fair brokers.

In a news conference Wednesday, Zuhri, the Hamas spokesman, said the group feels "alone in the field" with little support from the Arab world. Zuhri called on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to support Hamas' refusal of the Egyptian cease-fire proposal.

In Washington, President Obama said Wednesday that the U.S. will use all its diplomatic resources and relationships to secure a deal to end the violence.

Israel told residents of the northern town of Beit Lahiya and the Zeitoun and Shijaiyah neighborhoods of Gaza City, all near the border with Israel, to evacuate their homes by 8 a.m. Wednesday. The warnings were delivered in automated phone calls, text messages and leaflets dropped from planes.

The Israeli military said in its message that large numbers of rockets were launched from these areas and that Israel plans to bomb these locations.

"Whoever disregards these instructions and fails to evacuate immediately endangers their own lives, as well as those of their families," the message said.

A Hamas website said Wednesday that Israel fired missiles at the homes of four of its senior leaders. Hamas militants fired a barrage of rockets back, and some reached deep into Israeli territory.

During the past two weeks, Hamas has launched hundreds of rockets at Israeli border communities, and six of them landed in Kibbutz Nir Oz on Wednesday.

Judy Hagai, a resident of Kibbutz Nir Oz, a little more than a mile from the Gaza border, said the situation is an escalation of what she and Israelis in the area have experienced, on and off, for nearly 15 years.

"We had one (rocket) hit two days ago about 100 meters from our house that caused a huge crack in the wall of our house. Yesterday, another one hit our neighbor's garden 100 meters away in the opposite direction," Hagai said.

Hagai said Israel had no choice but to fire on Hamas targets.

"Unfortunately, our neighbors are placing their armaments near civilians and then telling them not to heed Israel's warnings to evacuate," she said.

Civilians in Gaza say they are caught between the back-and-forth of political and military decision-makers.

"We are the victims of politicians," said Ibrahim Badwan, 38, an accountant and father of five in Gaza. "We want to live a decent life, to bring up our children in a safe environment."

"People in Gaza have had enough," Badwan said.

Mohammad Nizar, 32, a shop owner in Gaza City, said any cease-fire must benefit Gazans.

"Let me tell you that I do not like Hamas, but I support the resistance in general," Nizar said.

Dumalaon reported from Berlin. Contributing: Oren Dorell from McLean, Va., Michele Chabin from Jerusalem; the Associated Press