Israel reportedly plans to halt Gaza attack

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel plans to halt its three-week-old Gaza offensive without any agreement with Hamas militants, a senior Israeli official said on Saturday.

"The goal is to announce, subject to the approval of the cabinet, a suspension of military activities because we believe our goals have been attained," said the official, who asked not to be named.

The security cabinet is due to meet at 7:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. British time) and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will address the nation at 10 p.m.

"There is no agreement with Hamas, and it is clear that if Hamas fires against Israeli soldiers or if rocket fire into Israel continues, Israel will reserve the right to act," the official said.

A Hamas official in Beirut said earlier that the militants would fight on until Israel met their demands, mainly for an end to a crippling Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip. Another Israeli official said he expected the cabinet to declare a unilateral cease-fire and reach an agreement with Egypt on increased security along the Gaza-Egypt border.

Under that agreement, he said, the Rafah border crossing would open in line with a 2005 agreement with the Palestinian Authority, which calls for President Mahmoud Abbas's forces to control the border and for Europeans to monitor it.

The Israeli official said Gaza's border crossings with Israel were likely to be open initially only for humanitarian supplies, with a more permanent solution linked to progress over negotiations on Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier held in Gaza by Hamas.

However, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said on Saturday that Egypt had no commitment to a U.S.-Israeli pact signed in Washington on Friday to halt arms smuggling into the Gaza Strip.

(Writing by Alistair Lyon; Editing by Louise Ireland)