Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com). Voice of America is funded by the US Federal Government and content it exclusively produces is in the public domain. Israel Continues Lebanese Assault, Rejects Three-Day Cease-Fire --------------------------------------------------------------- http://enews.voanews.com/t?r=279&ctl=133F57C:3919ACA Rejection follows appeal Friday by top UN official for truce to allow women, children, elderly to escape fighting, to allow emergency supplies to reach conflict zone Israeli heavy artillery pieces fire at targets in southern Lebanon at a position near the Lebanese border in northern Israel, July 29, 2006 Israel has rejected U.N. calls for a 72-hour truce in the ongoing conflict with Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon. A top U.N. official, Undersecretary for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland, proposed the truce Friday to allow women, children and the elderly to escape the fighting and let emergency aid into the country. Israel says it has already opened safe corridors across Lebanon for aid shipments. Israeli officials say Hezbollah guerrillas are blocking the shipments to create a humanitarian crisis. Meanwhile, a U.S. boat arrived in Beirut Saturday with supplies for hundreds of thousands of people displaced by Israel's bombardment. And the U.N. refugee agency is sending its first convoys of trucks into Lebanon from Syria. A UNHCR spokeswoman, Jennifer Pagonis, says the agency is exploring several ways to get more supplies into the country. As aid made its way into Lebanon, Israeli continued pounding Hezbollah positions with airstrikes. Israeli military officials say seven soldiers were wounded Friday in fighting. Twenty-eight militants were killed in clashes in southern Lebanon Hezbollah announced Friday the use of a new longer range rocket the group calls the Khaibar-1. Several rockets struck near the town of Afula Friday, about 50 kilometers inside Israel, causing no injuries. Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.   .