Troops pull out as both sides adopt unilateral ceasefires

AFTER A three-week military campaign, Israeli forces began pulling out of Gaza last night, after both Israel and Hamas declared…

AFTER A three-week military campaign, Israeli forces began pulling out of Gaza last night, after both Israel and Hamas declared a unilateral ceasefire. Yesterday afternoon more than a dozen rockets were fired from Gaza, but, following Israel’s decision to hold fire, Hamas and the other Palestinian militias declared their own one-week truce, demanding Israeli forces leave.

At least three rockets landed in Israel after the Hamas declaration, and the ceasefire remains extremely fragile.

The Israeli security cabinet voted on Saturday night in favour of a unilateral ceasefire, heavily influenced by recommendations from army generals that the military operation had run its course.

According to the decision, the troops were to stay in Gaza until the militant rocket attacks ceased. Israel reserved the right to respond militarily if Palestinian gunmen fired at soldiers or continued firing rockets.

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Prime minister Ehud Olmert declared Israel had achieved its military objectives. “Hamas’s leaders are in hiding, many of its members have been killed, its rocket factories have been destroyed, its smuggling routes through the tunnels have been blown up, its ability to move weapons in the Gaza Strip has been reduced and the launching sites where most of the rockets are fired are under Israeli military control,” Mr Olmert said.

Hopes for a durable ceasefire were not promising. More that a dozen rockets were fired into Israel by lunchtime yesterday, and Israeli aircraft were back in action targeting areas from where the rockets were fired, killing a number of militants. There was an exchange of fire on the ground.

In a surprise announcement, Hamas and the other Palestinian militias declared their own unilateral, one-week truce. Hamas said the move was to facilitate an Israeli troop withdrawal and the re-opening of border crossings.

Mushir al-Masri, a Hamas-affiliated member of parliament, said the war ended with Israel’s defeat.

“The resistance pushed back the attack, and the enemy is forced to deal with continued rocket fire, continued threats from Hamas and no change regarding the issue of kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit,” Mr al-Masri claimed.

Although both sides have committed to a truce, other issues remain to be resolved, including the setting up of a mechanism to stop arms smuggling, the opening of the crossings, and lifting the economic siege on Gaza. Egyptian officials spoke on all these issues with Israeli and Hamas representatives over recent weeks, but failed to reach a compromise formula.

Israeli officials promised to allow an increase in humanitarian aid into Gaza if the truce holds, but linked a permanent opening of the border crossings to a prisoner swap involving Gilad Shalit.

Israel began treating wounded Palestinians yesterday at a field clinic on the border of Gaza, promising that patients requiring additional treatment would be transferred to Israeli hospitals.

In an effort to shore up the ceasefire, the leaders of France, Britain, Germany, Italy, Spain and the Czech Republic, and UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon attended a summit hosted by Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak in Sharm el-Sheikh, and then met Israeli leaders in Jerusalem.

French president Nicolas Sarkozy said: “We have pledged to help Israel and Egypt . . . end the smuggling of weapons into Gaza.” The European leaders also stressed the need for a speedy Israeli troop withdrawal and to open the borders to allow in humanitarian assistance.