Tel Aviv  - France has proposed to Israel to observe a 48-hour unilateral ceasefire to give Hamas, the radical Islamic movement ruling Gaza, a chance to end its rocket attacks, an Israeli defence official said Tuesday.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information, said Israel may debate the proposal in a session of its security cabinet Wednesday.

The proposal was passed on by French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner to Defence Minister Ehud Barak, who passed it on to Israeli caretaker Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Olmert's spokesman was not immediately available for comment.

Only the prime minister was the highest authority who could approve it, she stressed to Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa, adding that she assumed that if the Israeli security cabinet were to discuss the proposal, military and defence experts would be asked to give their opinions.

The Israeli airstrikes and the planning of the next stages of Israel's Operation "Cast Lead" - which aims curb rocket attacks from the strip, meanwhile "are continuing exactly as they have been." (dpa)