JERUSALEM (AP):

Militants in Lebanon fired at least three rockets into Israel early yesterday, threatening to open a new front for the Jewish state as it pushed forward with a bloody offensive in the Gaza Strip that has killed nearly 700 people. Israel responded with mortar shells.

The United Nations, meanwhile, said it was halting aid deliveries to the besieged Gaza Strip, citing Israeli attacks on its staff and installations.

The announcement came shortly after the driver of a UN truck was shot and killed by tank fire as he was headed to an Israeli border crossing to pick up an aid shipment, according to the UN.

The rockets from Lebanon raised the spectre of renewed hostilities on Israel's northern frontier, just two and a half years after Israel battled the Hezbollah guerrilla group to a 34-day stalemate.

War broke out between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006 as Israel battled Palestinian militants in Gaza, on Israel's southern borders.