Israel to Hold Off On Major Offensive in Gaza Strip: ; Town Hard Hit by Palestinian Rockets Holds General Strike

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JERUSALEM - Israel decided to hold off on a major military offensive in the Gaza Strip to give new Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas more time to act against militants, a senior government official said today, after a top PLO body urged armed groups to halt attacks on Israel.

Also today, residents in the Israeli town of Sderot, hard-hit by Palestinian rockets fired from nearby Gaza, observed a general strike to protest the military's inability to stop the attacks. Black mourning flags were raised for four Sderot residents killed in recent months. A 15-year-old girl was critically injured by a rocket over the weekend and two more rockets fell on Sderot's outskirts today, causing no damage.

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Israel to Hold Off On Major Offensive in Gaza Strip: ; Town Hard Hit by Palestinian Rockets Holds General Strike

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell called Abbas on Sunday to discuss the latest downturn in Israeli-Palestinian relations, a U.S. officia...

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