Israel police said at least three rockets were fired into northern Israel from Lebanon today and rescue services reported at least one person wounded.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the rockets fell around the town of Nahariya, five miles south of the Lebanese border.

Israeli defence officials said the military had been on alert for rocket attacks by Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia since Israel intensified its battle against Palestinian rocket squads in Gaza, on Israel’s southern flank.

At the same time, six rockets from Gaza hit towns in southern Israel.

Lebanese TV stations said Israeli forces had fired mortars across the border after the rocket attack.

Hezbollah’s al-Manar and other TV stations say five mortar shells fired from Israel fell near the border inside Lebanon. No injuries were reported.

Hezbollah had no immediate comment. The heavily-armed group is a strong ally of Hamas but it has held its fire after Israel attacked Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. Palestinian radicals also have a presence in south Lebanon.

Israel has warned of massive retaliation if attacked.

Hezbollah has said it did not want to draw Lebanon into a war but was ready to fight back.

Today’s developments may have scuppered yesterday’s initial hopes of a possible end to the conflict after Israel said it accepted “the principles” of a French-backed Egyptian peace plan, providing for international action to halt arms smuggling by Hamas militants.

Israel nevertheless last night resumed the 12-day-old offensive against Hamas, which Palestinian medics say has already killed 688 Palestinians, after halting it for three hours to allow humanitarian and medical aid into Gaza. The military says it will halt ground operations for three hours each day.

And in another move last night presaging further major strikes in southern Gaza, residents in the border area of Rafah said that leaflets had been dropped warning them to leave home immediately “because Hamas uses your houses to hide and smuggle military weapons”.

As Amos Gilad, the top official in the Israeli Defence ministry, prepared to fly to Cairo today for intensive negotiations it was clear that Israel is seeking tough assurances on the strength and practical details of any future international force on the Egypt/Gaza border before agreeing to end the war.

Earlier, President Nicolas Sarkozy had appeared to jump ahead of events by announcing his “delight” that Israel and the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas had accepted a new peace plan.

The UN said that the civilian population continued to “bear the brunt” of the ground operation — and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights in Gaza said that 130 children aged 16 or under were included in the total death toll.

At the UN yesterday, diplomats were manoeuvring to avoid the tabling of a Libyan-drafted ceasefire resolution that would be almost certain to provoke a veto by the US for failing to mention the Hamas arms smuggling.

British officials suggested that the the 15 Council members might agree a compromise to avert a public split. They said it would not preclude negotiations on a full-blown resolution, with the ceasefire initiative put forward by Mr Mubarak as its likely basis.

US Secretary Condoleezza Rice was due to meet Middle East and European counterparts, including Foreign Secretary David Miliband, today.