Beirut  - Lebanon observed a national day of mourning Wednesday to protest Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, as a high- state of alert at the Lebanese-Israeli border was registered.

Most government institutions were closed, but private businesses remained opened.

Flags flew at half mast on most government buildings in Beirut in a show of solidarity with the Gaza victims.

Jakarta - Hundreds of Indonesian Muslims demonstrated outside the US embassy in Jakarta Wednesday, denouncing the Israeli military strikes on the Gaza Strip that killed hundreds of people.

More than 1,000 protestors, including activists from the hardline Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), waved Palestinian flags and shouted slogans to protest Israeli aggression.

It was the latest in a series of protest rallies in Indonesia since Israel attacked Gaza over the weekend.

Jerusalem  - Israel's cabinet planned to meet Wednesday to discuss a French proposal for a 48-hour truce in its assault on the Gaza Strip, as the Israel Air Force kept up its attacks, striking targets of the Hamas organization in the salient overnight.

Media reports Wednesday morning said Israel was hesitant about agreeing to the proposal for a "humanitarian" ceasefire, pointing out that the army was allowing some aid convoys to enter the Gaza Strip even as the fighting was going on.

Some ministers also feared that agreeing to the ceasefire would halt the momentum of the Israeli offensive, and allow Hamas to claim victory.

Israel's ferocious air offensive in the Gaza Strip entered its fourth day on Tuesday as it seeks to deal a "forceful blow" to Hamas radicals despite widespread international calls for a lasting ceasefire.

The Palestinian death toll in the fighting has reached 380 since Israel launched "Cast Lead," the highest toll by far in decades of Israeli-Palestinian fighting. Gaza officials reported more than 1,800 injured.

Meanwhile, Hamas stepped up rocket attacks with increasingly deeper strikes into southern Israel. Israel said the air assault was in response to Hamas missile attacks that intensified after a six- month truce ended this month.

Paris  - European Union foreign ministers on Tuesday called for a ceasefire between Israel and the Islamic group Hamas to allow humanitarian aid into the embattled Gaza Strip after an emergency meeting in Paris.

But Israel has already ruled out the idea of a 48-hour ceasefire, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said.

"There must be an unconditional halt to rocket attacks by Hamas on Israel and an end to Israeli military action. The cessation of fighting should allow lasting and normal opening of all border crossings," the ministers said in a joint statement.

Tehran - Dozens of Islamist students stormed a British compound in Tehran Tuesday night to protest the Israeli assault in the Gaza Strip, tearing down the British flag before police restored order, the official Iranian news agency IRNA reported.

The students broke into the diplomatic residence in the northern part of the city during demonstrations against Western support for Israel and replaced the Union Jack with a Palestinian flag. The complex houses British diplomats and a school.