Israel allows aid into Gaza Strip

Gazans will welcome the aid following acute shortages

Israel has briefly reopened a border crossing with the Gaza Strip to allow in a convoy of humanitarian aid.

The Israeli army said 33 trucks had entered Gaza. The UN refugee agency confirmed an aid delivery, but said fewer trucks had been let in.

Gaza has been suffering shortages and power blackouts since Israel sealed its borders amid militant rocket fire.

Further rocket barrages hit on Monday, at about the time UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband was visiting the area.

It was not immediately clear if he was still conducting his visit to the Israeli town of Sderot at the time of the attack.

He also met Israeli leaders and the Palestinian leadership in the occupied West Bank, which split from the Hamas rulers of Gaza in the summer of 2007.

Palestinian officials asked Mr Miliband to take steps against Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank, which he criticised during a news conference in Ramallah.

Mr Miliband travels on to Syria and Lebanon after his meetings in Israel and the West Bank.

'Proper access'

The spokesman for the UN refugee agency, Chris Gunness, told the BBC eight of its trucks carrying powdered milk and luncheon meat were allowed into Gaza with the convoy.

"This will be gone in a matter of days - and what happens then? What we need is proper, consistent, long-term and large-scale access, without that, Unrwa is operating with its hands tied behind its back," he said.

He added that US $2,000 worth of the baby milk supplies were damaged or destroyed during inspections by the Israeli army.

Earlier, caretaker PM Ehud Olmert announced Israel would free 250 Palestinians as a "goodwill gesture" to West Bank leader Mahmoud Abbas in advance of the Eid al-Adha Muslim holiday in early December.

The announcement came as Mr Olmert met Mr Abbas for their latest round of talks in the troubled peace process.

Israel last freed jailed Palestinians, 198 of them, in August. In all about 11,000 are held in Israeli detention.

Skirmishes

Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Minister Tsipi Livni sought Mr Miliband's support for her country's tough stand on the troubled Palestinian territory, Gaza.

The Gaza Strip is controlled by the Hamas militant group and was sealed off by Israel two weeks ago, apart from limited fuel supplies.

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"Israel cannot just watch its citizens being attacked... The international community can not turn a blind eye," she said.

At least 16 Palestinian militants have been killed in skirmishes with Israeli forces along the border in the past week.

Israeli police said Palestinian militants fired eight rockets at southern Israel on Monday. The rockets landed in open areas and no-one was injured.

Israel and the Hamas group agreed a ceasefire last July, but it has been under serious strain since early in November.