Egypt said it's optimistic a deal for a 10-day truce in Gaza can be reached with Hamas, as the number of Palestinians killed in the weeks-long conflict in the Gaza Strip surpassed 1,000 Wednesday.
Egyptian and Palestinian officials said they hope to garner Hamas' agreement on the truce, which would then be presented to Israel. A longer-term deal, which would open Gaza's borders and include an Israeli troop withdrawal, remains in flux.
Officials close to the negotiations for the 10-day truce spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity. However, some Egyptian officials spoke publicly, saying they were optimistic a deal could be reached.
"We're working with Hamas and we're working with the Israeli side. We hope to reach an outcome soon," Hossam Zaki, a spokesman for Egypt's Foreign Ministry, told the BBC.
Meanwhile, nine Israeli human rights groups are calling for an investigation into the actions of their country's army, saying the military is endangering Gazan citizens.
Israel Foreign Minister, Yigal Palmor, said that his country supports freedom of expression, but said the human rights groups' opinion "is not based on any solid evidence" and may be "tainted with political bias."
Northern Israel was hit by rockets from guerrillas in Lebanon for the second time in a week Wednesday, threatening to drag the country into battling on a second front.
Talks between Hamas and Egypt intensified in Cairo Wednesday. A Gaza-based Hamas official told reporters that "we submitted our points of view" on the proposed deal, and added, "We hope that this Egyptian effort will succeed."
But Salah al-Bardawil stopped short of saying Hamas had accepted the Egyptian proposal.
Israel is sending a chief envoy to Egypt on Thursday, a senior Defence Ministry official said. Meanwhile, a senior Israeli Foreign Ministry official is travelling to Washington to discuss an American role in a ceasefire.
War rages on
The news came as a devastated Gaza City sat under a cloud of smoke from Israeli air strikes.
Earlier Wednesday, another salvo of rockets was fired into northern Israel from Lebanon, again raising fears that Hezbollah had entered the dispute between Israel and Hamas.
The rockets -- which prompted Israelis in the area to head to bomb shelters -- landed in open areas near the town of Kiryat Shemona, and caused no injuries or damage.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Hezbollah last week denied any involvement with an earlier, similar attack from Lebanon.
Meanwhile, Israel continued its assault on Hamas in Gaza, with aircraft targeting militant weapons positions and tunnels used to smuggle weapons from Egypt.
The violence occurred as UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon tried to help broker a peace deal, meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo.
One of the major stumbling blocks to a ceasefire is Israel's concern about the cross-border tunnels, while Hamas wants Israel to open the region's borders.
More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed since the fighting began on Dec. 29 -- half of them civilians, according to hospital officials.
In total, 13 Israelis have been killed, four by rocket fire from Gaza.
Israel says it began the original air offensive in response to Hamas rockets being fired into southern Israel. The offensive was later expanded, to include ground troops, tanks, and a naval assault.
With files from The Associated Press
