UPDATE 13:40 PST - I'm going to close this post. In the next few hours Hamas will try to escalate their fire - killing some civilians while they can. After 2am you'll probably see rocket fire slow down to a trickle: they'll try to walk a fine line between terrorizing Israeli civilians to show they still can and keeping their fire sufficiently limited to prevent an Israeli counterattack.

UPDATE 13:35 PST - Barak's done. Hamas immediately trotted out a spokesman to reject the ceasefire and to make vague boasts about how they won't give up on their demands or give back Shalit. It'll be interesting to see what their forces on the ground do after 2am.

UPDATE 13:28 PST - Barak: there won't be a minute when Israel doesn't focus on Shalit. That commitment is part of the pact that exists between the IDF and the parents who send their children into the army.

UPDATE 13:25 PST - Barak just read the names of Israeli soldiers and officers who were killed. He says that each is a "world unto themselves" and that there's no such thing as a "reasonable price" when people die. (A second contrast to follow the other one comparing how Hamas and Israel talk about each others' civilians - Israel doesn't celebrate when its soldiers die).

UPDATE 13:20 PST - Barak is now speaking. He says that the IDF's goals have been achieved but that if Hamas continues firing Israel will retaliate. This was a just war - there's a limit to patience - 8 years of rocket fire directed at civilians - kidnapped soldiers - etc.

UPDATE 13:10 PST - Olmert press conference over.

UPDATE 13:07 PST - Olmert: Israel feels the pain of Palestinian civilians suffering under the impossible situation that Hamas has created. (This is actually how the Nazis used to talk, by the way - that's why you can be sure that hysterical leftist accusations of "Zio-Nazism" are the result of levelheaded analysis and not something more unseemly).

UPDATE 13:05 PST - Olmert: Israel will continue trying to bring Gilad Shalit home and the campaign has brought this closer.

UPDATE 13:02 PST - Olmert: Israeli soldiers will stop fighting as of 2am Israel time (about 3 hours from now). If Hamas does not reciprocate Israel will consider itself free to escalate.

UPDATE 13:00 PST - Olmert: Hamas is an Iranian proxy, Israel has no fight with the residents of Gaza.

UPDATE 12:55 PST - Olmert: Israel controls most of the rocket launching zones and that Hamas has taken a heavy hit.

UPDATE 12:54 PST - The two objections were Bar-On and Yishai.

UPDATE 12:50 PST - The Israeli cabinet passed the ceasefire. Two against and one abstention. Olmert will be on the stage in a few minutes.

ORIGINAL - Israeli radio is reporting that red alerts just went off in Ashdod and Ashkelon. It's a last-minute attempt by Hamas to make it look like they're cowing the Israelis into a ceasefire (or, if they get really lucky, to kill a bunch of Israeli civilians just as the Israeli Prime Minister is announcing a ceasefire). That's on top of the 15 rockets fired earlier today, including the one that hit a synagogue. Meanwhile European diplomats are descending on the region to make sure that what Olmert will announce as a temporary ceasefire - dependent on Hamas's actions - becomes irreversible.

If Israel thinks that they can diplomatically consolidate their measured military achievements then none of this should change the calculations that led to the unilateral ceasefire. But it shows that Hamas is serious about not reciprocating the truce.

References:
* 15 Gaza rockets hit Negev, one striking empty synagogue [Ha'aretz]
* Sarkozy, Merkel, and Brown to attend Gaza summit in Sharm al-Sheikh [Ha'aretz]
* Israel To Call Unilateral Ceasefire, Declare Partial Victory (Plus: Has Operation Cast Lead Achieved Anything?) [MR]
* Hamas: We will continue fighting if truce demands aren't met [Ha'aretz]

Previously:
* Reminder: Hamas Uses Israeli Humanitarian Gestures To Rack Up Mass Civilian Casualties
* America's Voices Conference Call - Operation Cast Lead
* SF Consulate Conference Call - Operation Cast Lead Media Strategy