Tel Aviv/Gaza  - The Israeli security cabinet was to convene Saturday night to discuss a ceasefire proposal, as the military campaign entered its fourth week and airstrikes and artillery fire continued overnight and during the day across the Gaza Strip.

In Cairo, Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak demanded an immediate ceasefire.

"I call on the (Israeli) leadership for an immediate unconditional ceasefire and a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Strip," Mubarak said in an address on national television.

Gaza City /Tel Aviv  - Israeli ground troops pulled back to the outskirts of Gaza City Friday, as Israel said it would likely convene its security cabinet the following night to discuss progress made in Egyptian-mediated talks for a ceasefire.

"During the talks with the Egyptian intelligence chief, there were signs of significant progress," said a statement from Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office after an Israeli delegation returned from its second trip to Cairo in two days.

Tel Aviv  - A Palestinian doctor from Gaza who was a regular guest on Israeli television Friday called a reporter who had interviewed him many times, screaming frantically that his house had just been bombed by the military.

"My girls, oh god, they've killed my girls," cried Ezz al-Din Abu al-Aish, the doctor, as the Israeli reporter held his mobile phone to the microphone during a live broadcast.

Abu al-Aish's home in Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip, had just been hit by a shell, fired by Israeli soldiers.

Tel Aviv  - While the Israeli offensive rages in the Gaza Strip, political spectators in Israel are asking what impact the conflict will have on upcoming elections.

The outcome of Operation Cast Lead will play a big role in determining the results of the election, now little more than three weeks away, as voters decide if the offensive has indeed changed "the security reality" of southern Israeli towns and villages that have been targeted by rockets from the Gaza Strip.

Tel Aviv - An Israeli resident of Argentina has been charged with attempting to spy on the Jewish