Gaza On Alert

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli leaders have decided not to launch a broad invasion of the Gaza Strip to give Egyptian-brokered truce efforts more time to succeed. Egypt has been trying to mediate a cease-fire between Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers for months. But Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's spokesman Mark Regev says the Israeli military will continue its preparations in case the truce talks fail. Olmert's Security Cabinet met Wednesday to discuss whether to invade Gaza or pursue the truce. An Israeli shell aimed at a group of militants in southern Gaza Strip slammed into a nearby house early Wednesday, decapitating a 6-year-old girl in her backyard, Palestinian medical officials and a relative said.