GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories (AFP) - The Islamist Hamas movement said on Sunday it had accepted a proposal for a three-hour humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza it said was made by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

"The ICRC contacted (us) and offered to broker a three-hour humanitarian truce to enable ambulances to evacuate the dead and wounded and Hamas accepted it," spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said in a statement.

"Hamas agreed on it but the occupation refused it," he claimed, although Israeli public radio reported that the Israeli government was studying the proposal.