GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) -
Hamas leaders and thousands of flag-waving
supporters declared victory over Israel on Gaza's first day of calm
under an Egyptian-brokered truce Thursday, as Israeli officials flew to
Cairo for talks on easing a blockade on the battered Palestinian
territory.
Eight days of punishing
Israeli airstrikes on Gaza and a barrage of Hamas rocket fire on Israel
ended inconclusively. While Israel said it inflicted heavy damage on the
militants, Gaza's Hamas rulers claimed that Israel's decision not to
send in ground troops, as it had four years ago, was a sign of a new
deterrent power.
"Resistance fighters
changed the rules of the game with the occupation (Israel), upset its
calculations," Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas, who attended
the rally, said later in a televised speech. "The option of invading
Gaza after this victory is gone and will never return."
At the same time, Haniyeh urged Gaza fighters to respect the truce and to "guard this deal as long as Israel respects it."
The mood in Israel was
mixed. Some were grateful that quiet had been restored without a ground
operation that could have cost the lives of more soldiers. Others -
particularly those in southern Israel hit by rockets over the past 13
years - thought the operation was abandoned too quickly.
Thousands of Israeli soldiers who had been sent to the border during the fighting withdrew Thursday, the military said.
Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu said the offensive's aims of halting Gaza rocket fire
and weakening Hamas were achieved. "I know there are citizens who were
expecting a harsher response," he said, adding that Israel is prepared
to act if the cease-fire is violated.
In a development that could
complicate cooperation on the cease-fire, Israel on Thursday arrested
an Arab-Israeli man connected to Hamas and Islamic Jihad on accusations
he planted a bomb on a bus in Tel Aviv that wounded 27 people in the
hours before the agreement was announced Wednesday, police said.
A Palestinian militant cell
based in the West Bank village of Beit Lakiya dispatched the man, who
lived in the village of Taybeh in Israel, to put a bomb on the bus,
police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. He then got off and called his
handlers, who remotely detonated the explosive by calling the phone,
Rosenfeld said.
"He admitted to carrying out the terrorist attack," said Rosenfeld, who declined to name the man.
Attacks by Israeli Arabs are rare, though they have happened in the past.
Nevertheless, the cease-fire raised hopes of a new era between Israel and Hamas.
A senior Israeli official
and three aides arrived in Cairo late Thursday and were escorted to
Egypt's intelligence headquarters, according to Egyptian airport
officials, presumably to hammer out the details of a deal that would
include easing a blockade of the territory.
The airport officials declined to be named because they were not authorized to give information to the media.
However, the vague language
of the agreement announced Wednesday and deep hostility between the
combatants made it far from certain the bloodshed would end or that
either side will get everything it wants. Israel seeks an end to weapons
smuggling into Gaza, while Hamas wants a complete lifting of the border
blockade imposed in 2007, after the militant group's takeover of Gaza.
Israeli officials also made
it clear that their position had not warmed toward Hamas, which they
view as a terror group aligned with their archenemy Iran and pledged to
the destruction of the Jewish state.
"Without a doubt, Israel in
the long run won't be able to live with an Iranian proxy on its
border," Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told Israel's
Channel 10. "As long as Hamas continues to incite against Israel and
talk about destroying Israel they are not a neighbor that we can suffer
in the long run. But everything in its time."
Israel launched the
offensive Nov. 14 to halt renewed rocket fire from Gaza, unleashing some
1,500 airstrikes on Hamas-linked targets, while Hamas and other Gaza
militants showered Israel with just as many rockets.
The eight days of fighting
killed 161 Palestinians, including 71 civilians. Six Israelis, two
soldiers and four civilians, were killed and dozens others wounded by
rockets fired into residential neighborhoods.
Gazans celebrated the truce after a night of revelry.
"Today is different, the
morning coffee tastes different and I feel we are off to a new start,"
said Ashraf Diaa, a 38-year-old engineer from Gaza City.
Hundreds of masked Hamas
fighters appeared in public for the first time since the offensive
during a funeral for five of their comrades. The armed men displayed
grenade launchers and assault rifles mounted atop more than 100
brand-new pickup trucks.
The latest round of
fighting brought the Islamists unprecedented political recognition, with
foreign ministers from Turkey and several Arab states visiting - a
sharp contrast to Hamas' past isolation.
Israel and the United
States, even while formally sticking to a policy of shunning Hamas, also
acknowledged its central role by engaging in indirect negotiations with
them.
Egypt emerged as the pivotal mediator, raising its stature as a regional power.
Egyptian President Mohammed
Morsi will now have to assume a more direct role as a referee between
Israel and Hamas, at a time when he faces many domestic challenges,
including reviving a faltering economy.
Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal
and the head of the smaller Islamic Jihad militant group Ramadan Shalah
met with Egypt's intelligence chief Thursday as the follow-up talks
geared up.
Reaching a deal on a new border arrangement for Gaza would require major concessions from both sides.
Hamas wants both Israel and Egypt to lift all border restrictions.
In 2007, Israel and Morsi's
pro-Western predecessor, Hosni Mubarak, sealed the territory, banning
virtually all travel and trade. Israel eased its restriction somewhat in
2010 in response to international pressure, allowing Gazans to import
consumer goods, while barring virtually all exports and travel. Gaza's
battered economy recovered slightly, but the ban on exports prevented it
from bouncing back fully.
After Mubarak's fall last
year, Egypt eased travel through its Rafah crossing with Gaza. However,
Morsi has rebuffed Hamas demands to allow full trade ties, in part
because of fears this would give an opening to Israel to "dump" Gaza
onto Egypt and deepen the split between Gaza and the West Bank.
Palestinians hope the West
Bank and Gaza, which lie on opposite sides of Israel, will one day make
up the bulk of a Palestinian state. Israel has barred most travel
between them during the past decade and closer ties between Egypt and
Gaza could exacerbate the division.
Israel, meanwhile, wants
Egypt to halt weapons smuggling into Gaza through tunnels under the
border. Hamas has been able to significantly boost its arsenal in the
past four years, largely with weapons from Iran, according to Mashaal,
who thanked Tehran for its support late Wednesday.
As part of the cease-fire, Israel received U.S. pledges to help curb arms shipments to Gaza.
The fighting gave a major
boost to Hamas' popularity, not only in Gaza but also in the West Bank,
where the Islamists' internationally backed rival, Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas, oversees a self-rule government.
Abbas, the leading
Palestinian proponent of non-violence and negotiations with Israel, was
forced to watch from the sidelines as his bitter rivals scored political
points.
A senior Abbas aide, Nabil
Shaath, stood alongside Hamas leaders during Gaza City's victory rally
Thursday. Despite the symbolism, it was not clear whether the two sides
would be able to mend their rift.
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