Israel on Wednesday turned down a France-proposed initiative for a 48-hour humanitarian ceasefire in the missiles-battered Gaza Strip, reported local daily Ha'aretz, Xinhua reported.
The denial to the proposal, which was aimed to allow the flow of humanitarian aid into the coastal territory, was reached by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who failed to reach a decision in a late night meeting Tuesday.
"That proposal contained no guarantees of any kind that Hamas will stop the rockets and smuggling," Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor was quoted as saying. "It is not realistic to expect Israel to cease fire unilaterally with no mechanism to enforce the cessation of shooting and terror from Hamas."
Meanwhile, Palmor added that Israel had not rejected the proposal, one of several under consideration, outright, while another Israeli official was quoted as saying that France might propose amendments to its plan.