RESPITE FROM ROCKET EXCHANGE IN S. LEBANON

Israelis living along the border with Lebanon enjoyed their first rocket-free day in a week yesterday, as Shiite Muslim gunners silenced their artillery.

Pro-Iranian Hizbullah militiamen signed a Syrian-brokered agreement to stop firing rockets into Israel, ending a week-long bombardment that left one young girl dead and several hospitalized.

The attacks, prompted by Israel's assassination of Hizbullah leader Sheikh Abbas Musawi, in turn provoked heavy Israeli shelling of southern Lebanon, and a 24-hour incursion by Israeli troops north of their self-declared "security zone" last Thursday.

The Israelis withdrew Friday, having lost two soldiers, while Hizbullah is said to have suffered heavy casualties.