Gaza destruction massive

Israeli forces have continued to pull out of the Gaza Strip following a tentative truce with Hamas. Military officials said troops and tanks that entered Gaza on January 3 as part of an offensive to counter Palestinian rocket attacks were gradually leaving. But they said troops remained ready to tackle any flare-ups in fighting. Israel and Hamas separately declared ceasefires on Sunday, to the relief of Western powers which were becoming increasingly alarmed by the mounting humanitarian toll in the impoverished territory. As Palestinians emerged from hiding, angered at the killing of more than 1,300 fellow Gazans and at the widespread destruction of homes and government infrastructure, the head of the Hamas administration claimed a "popular victory" against Israel. "The enemy has failed to achieve its goals," Ismail Haniyeh said in a speech. Hamas's truce decision, conditioned on Israel withdrawing within a week, was "wise and responsible," he said. Israel launched its air, ground and sea assault on December 27 vowing to "change the reality" for southern border towns that, since 2001, had taken fire from Hamas and other Palestinian factions armed with mostly improvised short-range rockets. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert declared the mission accomplished - noting a flurry of diplomatic efforts by the US, Egypt and European countries to prevent Hamas rearming. That would mean as yet unspecified measures to stop Hamas smuggling weapons across the Egypt-Gaza frontier. Israeli Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter threatened a military response to any renewed flow of arms into the Gaza Strip, saying Israel would view such smuggling as an attack on its territory.

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ITN | January 19, 2009

Tags:. .dichter. .rearming. .palestinians. .avi. .hamas