Israel's leaders have voted to halt an offensive in Gaza that has killed nearly 1,200 people.

In a televised address, Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert said that Israel's "goals have been achieved, and even more".

Fighting will stop at 0200 local time (0000GMT) but Olmert says Israel will keep troops on the ground in the meantime.

Hamas leaders have repeated that it will not respect a ceasefire as long as Israeli soldiers remain inside Gaza.

More than 1,150 Palestinians have been killed and 5,100 wounded since Israel began attacking Gaza on December 27 with an air blitz, and then moved in with ground forces a week later. A large majority of the dead are civilians.

Ten Israeli soldiers have died in the fighting and three Israeli civilians have been killed by rockets fired from Gaza.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has offered British naval resources to help monitor and stop weapons being smuggled into crisis-torn Gaza and said he is prepared to help make sure there is proper protection and monitoring of the crossings into Gaza.

He said he has been in talks with Mr Olmert and Mr Abbas and with European leaders over the last few days.

Some say Israel's plans for a ceasefire is a bid to avoid casting a cloud on Barack Obama's historic inauguration. Israeli public support for the offensive has been almost total, but international calls for an end to the bloodshed are mounting.

An overwhelming majority of states at the UN General Assembly called on Friday for an immediate, durable ceasefire.

© Independent Television News Limited 2009. All rights reserved.