REUTERS, Jerusalem- Israel would likely agree to an informal truce with Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip if cross-border rocket attacks and arms smuggling into the territory ended, a senior Israeli official said on Thursday.

Citing an unnamed high-level Egyptian official, Egypt's state news agency MENA said on Wednesday that Palestinian factions meeting in Cairo had agreed to an Egyptian proposal for a ceasefire starting in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

But a number of factions were equivocal in their support for a truce, and some said they reserved the right to retaliate against Israeli attacks. A member of Israel's security cabinet, who asked not be identified because a truce proposal had not been finalised, said Israel was waiting to see the results of Egyptian mediation.

"There will not be a signed agreement between Israel and Hamas, obviously," the official said. "But there is nothing to stop each side from independently making an undertaking with the Egyptians.

That, in effect, would be a tacit truce deal." Israel, he said "will almost certainly go along" with a ceasefire if it "falls in line with our basic demands -- an end to the violence from Gaza and the arms smuggling fuelling that violence".

The official said his views appeared to be shared by key decision-makers in Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's government and that he expected "a breakthrough on this matter within days".

Some other Israeli officials, including among the military top brass, have voiced opposition to a truce that could allow Hamas and fellow factions to recover from recent fighting. Islamic Jihad, which frequently launches rockets at Israel, said it could not formally accept a truce agreement that did not also apply at the onset to the occupied West Bank.

"But we will not be the first to violate or undermine it, and we will give a chance for the reopening of (the Gaza Strip's border) crossings and alleviating the suffering of our people," Zeyad al-Nakhala, deputy to exiled Islam. . Deadly virus spreads in China, 21 children die Beijing, May 02 (bdnews24.com/Reuters) - A deadly virus has spread rapidly in eastern China, killing at least 21 children and infecting nearly 3,000, Xinhua news agency said on Friday. Enterovirus 71 began spreading in Fuyang in the eastern province of Anhui in early March but authorities only reported it publicly on Sunday, saying there had been 789 cases. By Thursday, the number had risen to 2,946, Xinhua said. Enteroviruses are spread mostly through contact with infected blisters or faeces and can cause high fever, paralysis and swelling of the brain or its lining. There are no vaccines or antiviral agents available to treat or prevent the virus. "There was one more fatality on Thursday afternoon, so the latest death toll is 21," Xinhua said, citing Anhui's health chief. The delay in reporting the virus to the public has triggered heated discussion and criticism in the Chinese media, which said local government officials should be sacked. But the Health Ministry has come to the defense of the Fuyang government, saying the belated reporting was because medical teams were trying to work out what the illness was. Officials have said that almost all of those infected were children under the age of six and most were under two. A total of 879 children were still in hospital for treatment, with nine in critical condition, while 849 had fully recovered, Xinhua said. "The majority of the new patients have shown only light symptoms and the rapid increase of infections is partly due to better reporting and public awareness," the Beijing News on Friday quoted an Anhui government spokeswoman as saying. Health officials said people could take simple hygiene steps to prevent the spread of the virus. Treatment for the viral infection focuses on managing its complications, which can include meningitis and heart failure, according to the World Health Organization.