TEL AVIV, Jan 17: Israel decided to halt its offensive in Gaza at 0000 GMT (5am PST on Sunday), but troops will remain there for the time being and will respond to Hamas fire, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced on Saturday.

“At 2:00 in the morning (Israeli time) we will stop fire, but we will continue to be deployed in Gaza and its surroundings,” he said.

“If our enemies decide to strike back and want to carry on then the Israeli army will consider itself free to respond with force.”

Olmert had earlier said that Israel had achieved all its goals in the massive three-week-long offensive -- the largest Israeli assault ever launched on the impoverished territory of 1.5 million Palestinians.

More than 1,200 Palestinians have been killed since the invasion began on Dec 27, including more than 400 children. Ten Israeli soldiers and three civilians have been killed in the same period.

WAR CRIMES: UN officials have said war crimes may have been committed during Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip — a suggestion Israeli officials reject out of hand.

“These claims of war crimes are not supported by the slightest piece of evidence,” Yigal Palmor, an Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman, said when asked if there was any chance of a case being brought to the International Criminal Court.

UN officials expressed outrage after Israeli tank fire killed on Saturday two boys in a UN school in Beit Lahiya where some 1,600 people were sheltering.

John Ging, the head of the UNRWA in Gaza, said he was concerned about possible war crimes.—Agencies