Sirens brought Israel to a standstill today as Israelis remembered their war dead but fresh violence erupted in the Gaza Strip, killing three Palestinians.
In a moment of tribute and sorrow sharpened by the last seven months of bloody conflict with Palestinians, Israel marked its annual memorial day on the eve of its 53rd anniversary.
As it did so, the army tightened its blockade of the West Bank and Gaza, fearing attacks by Palestinian militants.
An explosion at the Rafah border between Egypt and Gaza killed three Palestinian civilians and wounded six others, Palestinian hospital officials said.
It was not immediately clear what caused the blast and there were no reports of confrontations between Israelis and Palestinians at the time.
The Israeli army did not comment, but Palestinian police said it appeared an explosive device had been planted in the border fence and blamed the blast on Israel.
Israeli soldiers also shot and wounded one Palestinian in the West Bank city of Ramallah, a night after heavy gunbattles in the area, Palestinian hospital officials said.
One Palestinian cabinet minister, Mr Nabil Sha'ath, said he saw a glimmer of hope because Israel had not completely rejected an Egyptian-Jordanian peace initiative.
But the two sides continued to trade recriminations and are far apart on the terms for resuming peace talks.
In a radio interview, Israeli Prime Minister Mr Ariel Sharon appeared to support Israeli media reports that Palestinian President Mr Yasser Arafat had ordered his security forces to stop mortar attacks.