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Israel ceases fire but troops stay in Gaza

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-01-18 15:46

JERUSALEM -- Israel unilaterally ceased fire in the Gaza Strip on Sunday but kept its troops there after a 22-day war meant to halt years of rocket fire on southern Israel but whose vast scale of death and destruction provoked international outrage.

An Israeli soldier jumps down from a tank at a staging area on the Israel-Gaza border, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2009. Israel unilaterally ceased fire in the Gaza Strip on Sunday but kept its troops there after a 22-day war meant to halt years of rocket fire on southern Israel but whose vast scale of death and destruction provoked international outrage. [Agencies]

Israel stopped its offensive before reaching a long-term solution to the problem of arms smuggling into Gaza, one of the war's declared aims. And Israel's insistence on keeping soldiers in Gaza raised the prospect of a stalemate with the territory's Hamas rulers, who have said they would not respect any truce until Israel pulls out.

But although militants continued their rocket assaults throughout the offensive, and as late as midnight Saturday, no attacks took place in the early hours of the truce, the military said.

The military warned in a statement early Sunday that Israeli forces would retaliate for attacks against soldiers or civilians and that "any such attack will be met with a harsh response."

The cease-fire went into effect at 2 a.m. Sunday local time (5 p.m. eastern time Saturday) after three weeks of fighting that killed more than 1,100 Palestinians, about half of them civilians, according to Palestinian and U.N. officials. At least 13 Israelis also died, Israel said.

The cease-fire went into effect just days ahead of President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration on Tuesday. Outgoing Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the Bush administration welcomed Israel's decision and a summit set for later Sunday in Egypt is meant to give international backing to the truce.

Leaders of Germany, France, Spain, Britain, Italy, Turkey and the Czech Republic -- which holds the rotating European Union presidency -- are expected to attend along with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon.

Ban welcomed the Israeli move and called on Hamas to stop its rocket fire. "Urgent humanitarian access for the people of Gaza is the immediate priority," he said. "The United Nations is ready to act."

It was not immediately clear whether Israel would send a representative to the meeting in Egypt and Hamas, shunned widely as a terrorist organization, has not been invited.

In announcing the truce late Saturday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel would withhold fire after achieving its goals and more.

"Hamas was hit hard, in its military arms and in its government institutions. Its leaders are in hiding and many of its men have been killed," Olmert said.

If Hamas holds its fire, the military "will weigh pulling out of Gaza at a time that befits us," Olmert said. If not, Israel "will continue to act to defend our residents."

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