SCOTT SIMON, host:
This is Weekend Edition from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon. Israel's security cabinet is preparing to vote later today on a cease-fire in Gaza. Diplomatic efforts had been under way in Washington and Cairo to work out the details, which seem vague at the moment. Until yesterday, it was the Egyptians taking the lead in trying to bridge the gap between Israel and Hamas on how the cease-fire might be implemented. Now, it looks like Israel may declare a unilateral cease-fire and ignore Hamas' demands altogether. In the meantime, the Israeli bombardment of Gaza continues. NPR's Mike Shuster has more from Jerusalem.
MIKE SHUSTER: United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon was meeting with Palestinian leaders yesterday in Ramallah on the West Bank when he endorsed the idea that Israel should declare a unilateral cease-fire and stop the shelling.
Secretary-General BAN KI-MOON (United Nations): We have no time to lose. If they had taken some more time, there would be more casualties, more losses of human lives, more destructions. A unilateral declaration of a cease-fire would be necessary at this time.
SHUSTER: Instantly, Israeli leaders dismissed Ban's suggestion, but it must have provoked some second thoughts within the government because soon after that, Israeli spokesmen began to hint that a unilateral cease-fire might just suit Israel's needs. A unilateral cease-fire would mean that there would be no formal agreement between Israel and Hamas. Thus, Hamas would not be legitimized as a negotiating partner in any way. Nor would Israel have to agree formally to Hamas's demands to open the border crossings and end the economic blockade of Gaza.
Internal divisions in Hamas have also made agreement on a cease-fire difficult. The group's top people inside Gaza have been more flexible, but its external leader, Khaled Meshal, has been immovable, insisting there would be no cease-fire before Israel withdraws its troops from Gaza and opens up the borders. Meshal spoke to a meeting of Arab heads of state in Qatar yesterday.
Mr. KHALED MESHAL (Hamas Leader): (Through Translator) This heinous aggression against the Gaza Strip is not against Hamas, as the enemy portrays it, but against all of Gaza, all the Palestinian people, the Palestinian cause and the nation. Israel has by now realized that it will not pay the agreed price to Palestinian negotiators or Arab negotiators. So it wanted to create a new game with new rules, and to impose conditions for a settlement.
SHUSTER: It appears that whatever kind of a cease-fire is finally achieved, the United States will have some role in maintaining it. Yesterday, Israel's foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, signed an agreement in Washington that spells out ways in which the U.S. will assist Israel in the technical and intelligence fields. According to Secretary of State Rice, the goal is to assure that more weapons are not smuggled into Gaza once a cease-fire is in place.
Secretary CONDOLEEZZA RICE (State Department): We've said repeatedly that the continued supply of armaments to Hamas and other terrorist groups in Gaza, including by some in the region, is a direct cause of the current hostilities. It is therefore incumbent upon us in the international community to prevent the rearmament of Hamas so that a cease-fire will be durable and fully respected.
SHUSTER: On the ground in Gaza, overnight and into today, Israeli forces appeared to maintain their current positions and continued aerial and artillery bombardment. Israeli shells hit near another U.N. school serving as shelter for civilians fleeing the combat zones. Two brothers were killed. The current estimate of Palestinian casualties is 1,200 dead and 5,300 injured. The Israeli death toll stands at 13, as it has for most of the war. Ahmed Abu Hamda, who works with NPR in Gaza, said there is much anticipation about a possible cease-fire - and much uneasiness.
Mr. AHMED ABU HAMDA (Palestinian News Producer): People here in Gaza - actually, they feel so confused also because the situation is partially calm here. And we need so - people are so afraid because Israelis were so tricky in this war, so they don't know if the Israelis will hit in Gaza City or not, if they're moving on ground or not.
SHUSTER: Israel's senior leaders in the so-called security cabinet are expected to meet tonight to discuss the current state of cease-fire negotiations. Mike Shuster, NPR News, Jerusalem.