Israeli officials say their government is considering halting its three-week offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, that has killed at least 11-hundred Palestinians.
Officials say Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is expected to convene his security cabinet on Saturday for a vote on a unilateral ceasefire.
Earlier on Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni signed an agreement in Washington offering U.S. help to Israel in solving the problem of arms smuggling in Gaza. The deal is intended to keep Hamas from re-arming if a cease-fire is reached.
Hamas officials were due to continue truce talks with Egyptian negotiators on Saturday, after Egyptian officials met with the Israeli envoy Amos Gilad in Cairo on Friday. Despite talk of progress on a possible cease-fire, exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal told Arab leaders the Islamist group would not accept Israeli conditions for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip. He made the comments during an emergency summit in Doha, Qatar.
Israeli air strikes continued in Gaza on Friday, while militants in the territory fired at least 15 rockets into Israel