Mortars hit Israel during truce

Israeli officials said on Thursday that the shells landed in open areas and there were no reports of damage or casualties.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld had earlier said that two rockets had fallen into southern Israel, around two hours after the truce took effect. However, an army statement later revised that figure upwards to three.

There were no immediate reports of retaliatory strikes by Israel, which had threatened to "respond with force" if Hamas broke the truce, scheduled to last for a period of five hours.

The AFP news agency quoted an unnamed Hamas source who denied that the Palestinian militant group was involved in the attack.

"They (the Israelis) are lying. All the Palestinian factions are continuing to observe the truce," the source said.

The Reuters news agency reported that Palestinians in the Gaza Strip were using the short pause in the fighting to withdraw money from banks, where their salaries are deposited directly, and to shop for groceries.

United Nations request

Both sides had announced on Wednesday that they had agreed to comply with a request from the United Nations to hold their fire for a period of five hours so that much-needed supplies could be delivered to civilians in the Gaza Strip.

More than 220 Palestinians have been killed in 10 days of air strikes on the Gaza Strip, which Israel says are aimed at preventing rocket attacks on the Jewish state. One Israeli has been killed and a number of others have been injured in rocket attacks since the latest violence broke out.

Prior to the ceasefire taking effect, the Israeli army said it had prevented an attempted attack by more than a dozen militants who had entered the country through a tunnel from Gaza. The military said at least one was killed when Israeli aircraft bombed the group of militants.

A previous truce earlier in the week quickly unraveled after Hamas complained that it had not been part of the negotiations that led Israel to agree to hold its fire.

pfd/tj (Reuters, AFP, AP)