"The travesty of the Israel aggression on Gaza will end in a few hours," Egyptian President Mohammed Morsy said.
Israel did not immediately confirm any plans to halt.
Egypt has been working to negotiate a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, but Morsy did not provide details on his statement.
Map: Israel
Clinton to Middle East to quell violence
Israel ground offensive on hold
An Israeli official said earlier that Israel was holding off on a ground offensive to give diplomatic efforts time.
While Israeli troops are
ready near the Gaza border, Israel has decided "to give time -- limited
time -- for a diplomatic solution" before potentially launching a ground
offensive, an Israeli official close to the negotiations said. "That
solution must result in no more Hamas rockets fired on Israel."
U.S. Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton is on her way to the region, in its seventh day of a
deadly conflict punctuated by huge explosions that have triggered fear
on both sides.
The exchange of attacks showed Tuesday there was no immediate sign of a cease-fire.
Eleven Hamas rockets came
flying into the Israeli city of Beer Sheva, causing casualties, CNN's
Wolf Blitzer reported from the city. More than 30 rockets were fired
into the area Tuesday, but most were destroyed by Israel's Iron Dome
interceptors.
Sirens sounded in Jerusalem after a rocket was fired in that direction from Gaza, but no casualties were reported.
"The rocket fired toward
Jerusalem missed the city but hit an open area in a Palestinian
village," the Israel Defense Forces said on Twitter.
Jerusalem Mayor Nir
Barkat said U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was among those who had
to take cover. Ban is in Jerusalem pushing for an end to the violence.
In Tel Aviv, a man with
an ax attacked a U.S. Embassy security guard, Israeli police said. The
attacker, who also had a knife, was arrested, police spokesman Micky
Rosenfeld said.
Meanwhile, a strike by
Israel "targeted two terrorists in the northern Gaza Strip," and a
"direct hit was confirmed," the IDF said. Israeli military forces also
"targeted a terrorist squad in Gaza that was preparing to fire rockets
at Israel," the IDF added.
A leader of Hamas'
military wing, the al Qassam Brigades, warned the "Zionist enemy would
pay high price for his crimes in Gaza."
Many people CNN has spoken to in Gaza said they want the violence to stop.
Clinton plans stops in
Israel, Ramallah in the West Bank and Egypt. The United States, like
Israel and many other nations, considers Hamas a terrorist organization
and does not meet or negotiate with the group, which controls the
government in Gaza. The Palestinian faction Fatah controls the West
Bank.
Clinton will "meet with
regional leaders, beginning with our Israeli partners, to consult on the
situation in Gaza," said Ben Rhodes, deputy national security director.
He said the visits will
support the "de-escalation of the violence and a durable outcome that
ends the rocket attacks on Israeli cities and restores broader calm in
the region."
Ban is set to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
An Arab League delegation, meanwhile, arrived in Gaza from Egypt to visit some stricken areas.
Throughout Tuesday, a fresh barrage of airstrikes pummeled Gaza.
The Israel Defense
Forces said it targeted 100 sites overnight, "including underground
rocket launchers, terror tunnels and ammunition storage facilities." The
IDF said the "terror tunnels" were used as hideouts by Hamas
operatives.
Israel has sent at least 1,350 airstrikes to Gaza, the IDF said.
The Gaza Ministry of
Health said five people were killed Tuesday morning, including a child
in northern Gaza. The ministry said 114 Palestinians have been killed
and more than 900 injured since the latest hostilities erupted seven
days ago.
Officials have not said how many militants were killed.
Three Israelis have been killed and at least 68 have been injured, Israeli officials said. The injuries include soldiers.
"The mere fact that
Hamas shoots a rocket at Jerusalem -- it says more about them that it
does about anything else," Israeli spokesman Mark Regev told CNN Tuesday
after the sirens had stopped sounding in the city. He pointed out that
Jerusalem has Jewish neighborhoods, Arab neighborhoods and other
communities.
"No government on this
planet would sit by idly and see its civilian population targeted the
way the Israeli population has been targeted," he said.
Israel: 'Firing of rockets needs to stop'
Hamas: Truce under 'specific conditions'
Rockets slam into Gaza building
Iran is arming Hamas with rockets, he said, echoing remarks by Israeli President Shimon Peres on CNN.
Concerns about a ground
war heightened when Michael Oren, Israel's ambassador to the United
States, said Israel had finished its planning for a ground invasion of
Gaza.
If Israeli troops do invade, Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal said, it would "not be a picnic."
"We do not want
escalation, nor do we call for a ground war," he said Monday. "But we
are not afraid of it, nor will we back down."
According to a senior
Hamas official involved in the talks brokered by Egypt, Israel has
agreed to abide by some of Hamas' conditions -- but not all at once.
The Hamas official said
Israel would end air assaults and gradually ease Israel's blockade of
four crossings into Gaza, as long as Hamas stops firing rockets toward
Israel.
But Hamas officials
rejected Israel's response, saying they wanted a full agreement to their
conditions and the opening of all four crossings at the same time.
Israeli foreign ministry
spokesman Yigal Palmor said late Monday that "negotiations are going
on," but he didn't offer any details.
Gaza has endured a
crippling economic embargo since Hamas won control of the territory from
the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority after a landslide 2007 election
that was followed by intra-Palestinian clashes.
Many Arab and Muslim nations view Hamas as the victim of Israeli aggression.
Diplomats hope to avoid a
repeat of 2008, when at least 1,400 people died when Israeli troops
invaded Gaza after a similar spate of rocket attacks.
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