A day after President Obama\u2019s special Middle East envoy called for a consolidation of the fragile Gaza cease-fire, the truce came under new strain Thursday when the Israeli military said Palestinians fired a rocket into Israel at dawn and Israel launched an air attack into southern Gaza.<\/p>\n
On his first visit to the region in his new role, the envoy, George J. Mitchell, traveled to the West Bank to meet with Palestinian leaders on Thursday after discussions with Israel\u2019s prime minister, Ehud Olmert on Wednesday. In those talks, Mr. Mitchell said, he spoke of \u201cthe critical importance\u201d\u009d of consolidating the cease-fire that ended Israel\u2019s three-week offensive against Hamas.<\/p>\n
As Mr. Mitchell prepared to travel to Ramallah, Israel said it launched an air attack in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis against a \u201cknown terrorist\u201d\u009d accused by an Israeli military spokesman of being part of a squad responsible for a roadside bombing on Tuesday that killed an Israeli soldier on the Israeli side of the border.<\/p>\n