Gaza 72-hour ceasefire period begins

GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A 72-hour Gaza ceasefire period began on Friday, the most ambitious attempt so far to end more than three weeks of fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Hamas Islamist-dominated enclave. The humanitarian truce, brokered by the United Nations and the United States, went into effect at 1 a.m. EDT (0500 GMT), and was to be lead to talks in Egypt on a longer-term solution. (Writing by Ori Lewis,; Editing by Jeffrey Heller)