Brown to join Gaza talks

Gordon Brown is expected to arrive in the Middle East for international talks on the crisis in Gaza as Israel declared ceasefire in the Palestinian territory. Israel's leaders voted to halt an offensive in Gaza that has killed nearly 1,200 people but said troops will remain on the ground. In a televised address, Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert said that Israel's "goals have been achieved, and even more". Hamas leaders have repeated that it will not respect a ceasefire as long as Israeli soldiers remain inside Gaza with reports rockets are being fired across the border into Southern Israel. More than 1,150 Palestinians have been killed and 5,100 wounded since Israel began attacking Gaza on December 27 with an air blitz, and then moved in with ground forces a week later. A large majority of the dead are civilians. International leaders are holding a summit at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheikh which is to be co-chaired by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and French President Nicolas Sarkozy. A statement issued last night by Mr Sarkozy's office said that Mr Brown and German Chancellor Angela Merkel would also be attending. No 10 said that Mr Brown had received an invitation to the talks but would not confirm whether he would be going. "That invitation is under consideration. No 10 is unable to confirm that he will attend," a spokesman said. The announcement of the ceasefire by Mr Olmert was welcomed by Foreign Secretary David Miliband who said it was now "imperative" that Hamas stopped its rocket attacks. "There will be huge relief at the announcement by Prime Minister Olmert of the end of Israeli military operations in Gaza," he said in a statement. "Too many lives have already been lost. The deaths of over one thousand people stand testament to the scale and duration of the conflict."

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ITN | January 18, 2009

Tags:. .cochaired. .hosni. .sharm. .mubarak. .televised