The Lebanese government criticised a rocket attack from south Lebanon into Israel today, saying it was a violation of a UN Security Council resolution that halted a 2006 war between Hezbollah and the Jewish state.
Information Minister Tareq Mitri said he did not believe the political and military group Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, was behind the attack.
"Hezbollah assured the Lebanese government that it remains engaged in preserving the stability in Lebanon and respects Security Council resolution 1701," the head of Mitri's office, Toufic Yannieh, quoted the minister as saying.
That implied no involvement by Hezbollah, he said. Hezbollah did not immediately comment in public.
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said he hoped it was an isolated incident and would not lead to the conflict worsening.
There were no claims of responsibility for the attack, to which Israel responded with a salvo of artillery shells into south Lebanon.
At least three rockets were fired from Lebanon, exploding in northern Israel and wounding two people in an attack seen as linked to Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip.
In the Gaza Strip, Israeli aircraft bombed targets across the Hamas-ruled territory, killing three militants and a woman. A civilian was shot dead during an army raid in southern Gaza.
US backing for a truce proposal raised expectations of an end to an onslaught that has killed more than 600 Palestinians.
In the occupied West Bank, Israeli police shot and killed a Palestinian who tried to set fire to a gas station at a Jewish settlement, an Israeli rescue service said. Police confirmed the shooting but not the man's condition.
Residents in Gaza described an overnight bombardment to the east of the city as among the heaviest in the offensive. In the south of the territory tanks advanced closer to the town of Khan Younis, witnesses said.
Although Israel pressed on with the offensive, it said it accepted the "principles" of a European-Egyptian ceasefire proposal. The United States urged Israel to study the plan.
Reuters