UN and Arab diplomats have struggled to halt the war that has killed nearly 1,100 Gazans [AFP]
The United Nations secretary-general has said he is "reasonably optimistic" that the Israelis will accept a ceasefire deal with Hamas.
But Ban Ki-moon, speaking after meeting Israeli leaders in Tel Aviv, admitted "it may take a few more days to agree to a few more technical issues" and urged both sides of the conflict to "stop fighting now".
Hamas, the Palestinian faction that controls the Gaza Strip, has told Egyptian negotiators it would agree to a truce in the Gaza Strip if Israel met certain conditions.
Khaled Meshaal, the exiled political leader of Hamas, his group's demands include a year-long, renewable ceasefire, the withdrawal of all Israel forces within five-to-seven days, and the immediate opening of all Gaza border crossings, backed by international guarantees they would stay open.
Israel insists Hamas must no longer be able to smuggle in weapons through tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border, and must end its rocket attacks on its southern towns.
Arab diplomacy
The office of Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, said Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, told him "the United States would be prepared to assist in solving the issue of smuggling".
Israeli leaders were expected to make decisions on the proposal on Thursday, after Israeli envoy Amos Gilad returned from a day-long trip to Cairo where he discussed the issue with Egyptian officials.
Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) leaders meeting in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, on Thursday to discuss the crisis agreed to continue the deliberations at a summit in Kuwait on Monday.
The Saudi summit came a day after Qatar unveiled its own plan for an Arab League meeting on the war to be held in Doha, the capital of Qatar, on Friday.
"We all know it is shameful to discuss the national and human cost of Gaza that has now been stained with children's blood at the margin of a previously planned summit," Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the emir of Qatar, said.
"We have renewed our invitation for an emergency Arab summit in Doha but, whenever quorum has been reached, it falls short again."
When asked about the Doha summit, Saudi officials said there was no quorum to convene it.
But some leaders have arrived in Doha for the summit, including president Bashar al-Assad of Syria and Abdelaziz Bouteflika of Algeria.
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