U.N. convoy driver killed at Gaza crossing

GAZA, Jan. 8 (UPI) -- The U.N. Relief and Works Agency suspended food deliveries in Gaza after a truck driver was killed Thursday.

Andrew Whitley, the UNRWA head, said food aid will resume when Israel can guarantee safe passage for convoys, The New York Times reported. The trucking company refused to continue operations after the driver's death at the Kerem Shalom crossing and after two of its trucks were hit Monday in Gaza.

For the second day, Israel ordered a three-hour bombing halt Thursday to allow Gazans to buy food and get medical help.

The International Committee of the Red Cross reported that its employees visited some areas in Gaza during Wednesday's ceasefire for the first time since the bombardment began. The organization said that they found four children who were too weak to stand beside their mother's body.

Thirteen days of violence has left nearly 700 Palestinians dead and nearly 3,100 more wounded, by Palestinian accounts. The Israeli death toll stands at 11.

Israel initiated the offensive after months of near-daily rocket attacks that threatened Israeli civilians.

Israeli negotiators were in Cairo for talks Thursday with Omar Suleiman, head of Egyptian military intelligence. The discussions are on a proposal from France and Egypt for a truce.

Israel said Wednesday it accepts the principles outlined in the French-Egyptian truce plan that has the support of the United States but needed to examine the details.