[AP] Laurie Copans - Israeli Prime Minister Olmert has instructed the army to halt air strikes and raids into Gaza in response to a serious drop in rocket fire, officials in his office said Monday. Israeli defense officials and the Hamas rulers of Gaza said there was no formal truce in place, but officials in Olmert's office said the prime minister had ordered the army to scale back its operations to allow Egypt to proceed in mediation talks. The army said Palestinians fired two rockets at Israel from Gaza on Sunday, down from a daily average of more than a dozen the previous week.
2008-03-10 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive