Israel, Lebanon play down rocket fire
Both sides downplay the firing of three rockets from Lebanon into Israel. In Gaza, Israel orders another three-hour break in fighting.
Reporting from Jerusalem — Three rockets fired from Lebanon exploded in northern Israel today, but both governments played down their significance as Egyptian, U.S. and European negotiators searched for a way to end the 13-day-old conflict in the Gaza Strip.
Israel continued its ground and air offensive against the Palestinian enclave's Hamas rulers but ordered a three-hour suspension in the fighting for a second straight day to allow Gaza's 1.5 million people a chance to get supplies and medical help.
Shortly before today's pause took effect, however, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency said one of its aid trucks came under Israeli fire, killing the driver.
The agency, which supplies food to most of Gaza's population, said it was suspending its operations in the territory because of the risk posed by Israeli forces.
Israel and Hamas scaled back their fighting Wednesday and were weighing several international cease-fire proposals, even as Israeli leaders considered a deeper assault into the Palestinian group's urban strongholds.
Israeli and Egyptian officials met in Cairo today to discuss an Egyptian proposal for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. The Egyptian leaders planned separate talks with Hamas.
Today's rocket salvo from Lebanon raised the specter of renewed hostilities on Israel's northern border just 2 1/2 years after Israel battled Hezbollah to a 34-day stalemate. The Lebanese militia, a Hamas ally, started the war in mid-2006 as Israel was battling Palestinian militants in Gaza.
The Israeli army responded with a cross-border artillery barrage but later dismissed the rocket attack as a minor incident. Lebanese officials promptly condemned the fire from their side and said they were taking steps to patrol the area.
No group claimed responsibility for the rocket fire. A Hezbollah minister in the Lebanon Cabinet, Mohammed Fneish, denied any involvement by the militia, the Associated Press reported from Beirut.
Small Palestinian groups unaffiliated with Hezbollah also possess rockets.
Police said the rockets from Lebanon fell in three parts of the northern Galilee region, prompting authorities to cancel school in two towns and instruct residents to enter bomb shelters. One rocket caused light shrapnel wounds to two women in a home for the elderly in Nahariya, medical workers said.
