Gaza conflict: Israeli partial ceasefire slows violence

Israel had said the truce would not apply to Rafah in the south and its troops would respond if attacked. Palestinian officials said Israel broke the truce shortly after it began, hitting a house in Gaza City. In Jerusalem, Israeli police said a Palestinian construction vehicle driver was shot dead after an attack on a bus that killed an Israeli passer-by. The Israeli truce came after an attack near a UN-run school in Gaza on Sunday that sparked international outrage. Palestinian officials said at least 10 people died. Earlier, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed that they had begun withdrawing some troops from Gaza, saying they were "extremely close" to completing their mission to destroy a network of tunnels. Health officials in Gaza say 1,800 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed and more than 9,000 injured since the conflict began nearly four weeks ago. Sixty-seven Israelis have died, all but three of them soldiers. A Thai national working in Israel was also killed. Previous ceasefires and truces have all come and gone in Gaza. Most have crumbled within a matter of hours. And while Israel has announced a "humanitarian window", nobody here has any faith in it. Israel says that it will continue its military operations close to the southern town of Rafah. Just minutes after the ceasefire got under way, Palestinians say Israel carried out in airstrike inside Gaza city - an area that was supposed to be covered by the truce. We heard the explosion at our Gaza bureau. A BBC team saw a house that had been destroyed - locals say that at least one person died and others were injured in the attack. There's yet to be any word from the Israeli military. But it's for this reason that Palestinians say that no place in Gaza is safe - ceasefire or not.