GAZA CITY: Gaza residents crowded banks, vegetable markets and shops Thursday, taking advantage of a brief cease-fire that offered the first respite from 10 days of fierce fighting between Hamas and Israel.

The truce was briefly thrown into doubt when Gaza militants fired three mortar shells toward Israel after the truce took effect at 10 a.m. (0700 GMT, 0300 EDT), but it appeared to be an isolated incident, and Israel did not respond.

Gaza City, a virtual ghost town for the past 10 days, returned to apparent normalcy within minutes of the start of the truce. Streets were jammed, motorists honked horns and Hamas police directed traffic at busy intersections.

Crowds of hundreds formed outside banks, with people jostling and shouting to get to ATM machines. In an outdoor market, shoppers filled plastic bags with fruit, vegetables and freshly slaughtered chickens.

The rush to restock signaled that Gaza residents don’t expect a quick end to the fighting. Egypt renewed cease-fire efforts after its initial attempt collapsed earlier in the week, but the demands of Israel and Hamas remain far apart.

“The situation is likely to get worse because there is no clear way out of it,” said Moussa Amran, 43, a money changer in central Gaza City.

Fighting continued early Thursday in the lead-up to the cease-fire, with the military saying it foiled an attack by 13 militants who sneaked into Israel through a tunnel from Gaza. Israeli aircraft struck the fighters at the mouth of the tunnel some 250 meters inside Israel, near a kibbutz.

Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, a military spokesman, said the military believed at least one militant was killed in the strike and that the remaining fighters appeared to have returned to Gaza through the tunnel.

Footage released by the military showed a number of individuals creeping slowly toward what appeared to be a hole in the ground. A separate shot showed an explosion from an airstrike on the tunnel entrance.

Hamas’ military wing said all its fighters returned safely even though the group was targeted by Israeli warplanes.

It was the second time militants attempted to sneak into Israel in this round of fighting. Last week, four fighters were killed when they infiltrated Israel from the sea.

Three people were killed by a tank shell that hit a house in the southern town of Rafah, the Hamas-run police and Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf Al-Kidra said.

The Gaza Interior Ministry had earlier said that 30 houses were struck in the Israeli raids. Four people were killed and a 75-year-old woman died of wounds suffered the day before, the ministry said.

Meanwhile, the Lebanese Foreign Ministry lodged a complaint on Thursday with the UN Security Council over this week’s bombardment by Israel of southern Lebanon.