Israel's temporary halt to Gaza offensive to allow in aid
Last Updated: Thu, 8 Jan 2009 00:50:00 +1100
Israel has stopped military operations in Gaza for three hours in the first of a daily, planned ceasefire.
An Israeli spokesman says it will allow civilians in Gaza to get medical attention and supplies.
A Hamas spokesman told Al Arabiya television that the group would not launch any missiles at Israeli targets during the lull.
However, there were at least two air strikes on Gaza in the first few minutes of the ceasefire, and observers say it's unclear if the ceasefire covers all of Gaza.
A spokesman for the UN relief agency Unwra, John Ging, welcomed the lull.
He said it would be three hours of safety out of twenty-four for Palestinian civilians, and will enable aid to be delivered to people "who are in a dreadful state."
Well it'll be 3 hours out of 24 hours of safety first and secondly we will be able to do what we can do in 3 hours in terms of distributing aid to a population here that are in a dreadful state. DUR: 0:16
