Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said Monday that a longer-term truce between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas which controls the Gaza Strip could come into effect as early as next week. Mubarak was speaking in Paris after briefing his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy on Cairo's efforts to mediate a truce in the Gaza conflict through indirect talks, following last month's 22-day Israeli offensive. Meanwhile, Israeli tank fire killed a Palestinian in Gaza Strip Monday, local medical workers said. Israel's military had no immediate comment on the cross-border shelling on the northern town of Beit Hanoun on the eve of an Israeli election in which security is a major issue. Earlier, Israel launched airstrikes against what the military described as Hamas outposts in Gaza, saying this was a response to a Palestinian rocket salvo Sunday.
