Israel said it has completed its
mission to destroy Gaza Strip tunnels used in militant attacks
and was pulling its troops out of the territory as a 72-hour
truce took effect today.
Under the Egyptian-brokered accord -- the latest effort to
end four weeks of fighting -- hostilities ceased at 8 a.m. local
time. Hamas, the Islamist group that rules Gaza, has accepted
the truce, spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said in an e-mail.
“The need for forces on the ground is now lower,” army
spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner told reporters on a
call today.
While previous attempts to put in place a lasting cease-fire have failed as each side blamed the other for violations,
Israel’s decision to move troops outside of Gaza may signal the
fighting in the territory is now winding down. After destroying
32 Hamas tunnels and 3,000 rockets, Israeli soldiers will now be
redeployed in defensive positions, Lerner said.
A barrage of rockets were fired at Israel just as the
cease-fire took effect, Hebrew daily Haaretz reported. Hamas’s
armed wing took responsibility for the attacks, according to a
text message. Lerner said the army estimated that militants in
Gaza still possess about 3,000 rockets.
Previous Truce
The Gaza offensive, which Israel said was intended to end
rocket attacks on the Jewish state and destroy the tunnels
militants use to launch attacks, has been the deadliest in the
territory since Israeli settlers and soldiers left in 2005. At
least 1,868 Palestinians have been killed, the majority of them
civilians, according to Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qedra. Sixty-seven people have been killed on the Israeli
side, 64 of them soldiers.
U.S., Palestinian and Egyptian envoys have been meeting in
Cairo in search of an end to the third major conflict between
Israel and Gaza militants in less than six years. A previous
cease-fire broke down last week within hours.
While Israel hasn’t sent a delegation to the Egyptian
capital, it will consider going if militants abide by the cease-fire, an official said on condition of anonymity because he
wasn’t authorized to discuss the matter.
Israel and Hamas want a cease-fire that addresses issues
earlier agreements didn’t resolve. Hamas is pressing to lift the
blockade of Gaza by Israel and Egypt, while Israel wants
militants disarmed.
Hamas Rift
Azzam al-Ahmad, the head of the Palestinian delegation, is
from the Fatah group that leads the Palestinian Authority in the
West Bank and recently reconciled with Hamas after a seven-year
rift.
The U.S. aim is to negotiate an accord that would
strengthen the Palestinian Authority’s role in Gaza at the
expense of Hamas, giving the Authority control over borders with
Israel and Egypt and responsibility for paying government
officials in Gaza, according to two U.S. officials, who spoke on
condition of anonymity to discuss continuing negotiations led by
Secretary of State John Kerry.
Israel, which opposed the Fatah-Hamas reconciliation, isn’t
yet negotiating on the plan. Kerry is hoping that its military
success in destroying Hamas infrastructure in Gaza, coupled with
growing international criticism of the civilian casualties
there, will prompt the Israeli government to join the Cairo
talks, the officials said.
Jerusalem Attacks
They said incentives to a deal include financial support
from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, which back Fatah and
distrust Hamas, and the control to be exerted over the Egyptian
border crossing by another anti-Hamas government in Cairo.
Hamas is considered a terrorist organization by Israel, the
U.S. and European Union.
Since the Israeli operation began, Hamas and other Gaza
militant groups have fired 3,330 rockets at Israeli towns and
cities and have staged armed raids against Israel through
tunnels and by sea. Israel has hit more than 4,800 targets in
the seaside strip, according to the army.
Two attacks yesterday in Jerusalem yesterday raised
concerns of spillover from the Gaza conflict. The driver of a
construction excavator, identified by police as an east
Jerusalem Palestinian, was shot dead by an officer after he
rammed his vehicle into a bus, killing one person and injuring
the bus driver and five others, police spokeswoman Luba Samri
said.
An hour later, a man was shot in the stomach near the
city’s Hebrew University campus on Mount Scopus by an assailant
on a motorbike, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. Jerusalem
Mayor Nir Barkat told Israel Radio the man who was shot was a
soldier. Roadblocks were set up in the area.
To contact the reporters on this story:
Amy Teibel in Jerusalem at
ateibel@bloomberg.net;
Saud Abu Ramadan in Gaza at
sramadan@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Andrew J. Barden at
barden@bloomberg.net
Mark Williams
end quote from:
srael Says Tunnel Mission Complete as Cease-Fire Starts
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