(Adds details, background) BEIRUT, Jan 17 (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Saturday that if Israel declared a unilateral ceasefire in the Gaza Strip it should include a timetable for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Hamas-ruled enclave. Israel is planning to announce on Saturday a halt to its three-week Gaza offensive without any deal with Hamas, an Israeli official said. Ban said he could not confirm whether Israel would declare a halt to the fighting, though he hoped it would. "This unilateral declaration should be accompanied by a timetable for Israeli withdrawal," Ban told reporters in the Lebanese capital Beirut. Ban confirmed that he would be attending a summit meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt on Sunday organized by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to discuss Gaza. (Reporting by Louis Charbonneau; Editing by Dominic Evans)
A pro-Palestinian protester burns an Israeli flag during a protest against Israel's offensive in Gaza, in Trafalgar Square in central London January 17, 2009. REUTERS/Luke MacGregor (BRITAIN) ...
Lebanon
