Israel Rebuffs `Temporary` Gaza Truce

A senior Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Israel wanted any ceasefire to be `open-ended`.

Israel said on Wednesday it would not agree to a temporary ceasefire in the Gaza Strip that Hamas could use to rearm, underscoring the gap between the two sides in Egyptian-brokered talks.

Hamas has rejected an open-ended truce, seeking instead a more limited six-month agreement that could be renewed, according to Arab diplomats.

"Israel will not accept a situation where Hamas gets a temporary period of quiet just to rearm and regroup and that ends with further rocket barrages on Israel," said Mark Regev, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

"Israel seeks a durable quiet that contains a total absence of hostile fire from Gaza into Israel and a working mechanism to prevent Hamas from rearming," Regev added after Olmert met Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defence Minister Ehud Barak.

Olmert's office said senior Israeli defence official Amos Gilad would travel to Cairo on Thursday for talks on a ceasefire after 19 days of fighting in which more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed, along with 13 Israelis.

A senior Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Israel wanted any ceasefire to be "open-ended".

"We don't want a time limitation," the official added.