GAZA, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- The police forces that
belongs to the deposed government of Islamic Hamas movement re-controlled the
Gaza Strip on Monday following an end of 22-day Israeli military offensive on
the enclave.
Palestinian witnesses in Gaza City said that they saw
dozens of Hamas interior ministry traffic policemen standing at main streets
crossroads in the city to organize the traffic.
On Sunday and Monday, the streets in the Gaza Strip,
mainly in the densely populated towns and cities, were overcrowded with traffic
and pedestrians, just after Israel and Gaza factions had successively declared a
ceasefire.
"Although, Minister of Interior Said Siam was
assassinated during the war, the ministry is continuing its work upon a security
plan that he (Siam) had approved," said Ihab al-Ghusein, Hamas-interior ministry
spokesman in Gaza.
He added that the interior ministry would act "in
order to keep and protect the internal Palestinian front, because Minister Siam
said that protecting the internal front would support the armed resistance
against the aggression."
On Sunday, deposed Premier Haneya said that the
Israeli war on Gaza was a strategic victory for all the Palestinians, adding
"this victory has to open the door for dialogue and inter reconciliation."
Official estimations of the health ministry said that
1,300 Palestinians were killed and 5,500 wounded, most of them were civilians.
The housing ministry also said that 4,000 houses were completely destroyed, and
20,00 others were damaged.
In northern Gaza Strip, residents told local Radio
stations that they heard intensive heavy gunfire in their area, adding that
militants who still reject the truce with Israel exchanged fire with Israeli
soldiers who are still present in the territory.
Most Palestinian factions and armed wing, including
Hamas, had accepted on Sunday a ceasefire and gave Israel a one-week ultimatum
to withdraw all its security forces from the whole Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, rival Fatah movement had warned Hamas to
continue cracking down on the movement's members after the Israeli military
offensive on the Gaza Strip had stopped on Sunday.
Fatah spokesman in the West Bank Fahmi al-Za'arir
said in a written statement that his movement calls on Hamas not to crack down
on Gaza Fatah movement leaders and members.
JERUSALEM, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman
said on Monday that the army has not yet made a concrete timetable for the
withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
The spokesman told Xinhua that the report of pulling out the troops before
Obama's inauguration is a "rumor," but he said he hopes the withdrawal will
happen soon. Full story
CAIRO, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon on Sunday stressed the importance of reviving the Middle East peace
process as he is nearing the end of his one-week tour of the region in a bid to
silence gunfire in Gaza.
"We need to put this Middle East peace process back
on track," said Ban at an Egypt-hosted summit held in the Red Sea resort of
Sharm Al-sheikh, which was aimed at shoring up the shaky ceasefire in the
Hamas-ruled coastal enclave. Full story
Palestinians walk amid the rubble of
what is left of their houses after Israeli operations in al Zaitun area in
eastern Gaza City, Jan. 4, 2009. (Xinhua/Wissam Nassar) Photo
Gallery>>>
GAZA, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- A hard-won peace was restored in
the Gaza Strip Monday as Israeli troops began pulling out of the belt after
their 22-day onslaught was halted by a tentative ceasefire deal with Hamas.
The truce, taking effect at 2 a.m. local time
(midnight GMT)Sunday, was declared late Saturday by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert, who said the goals of the operation in Gaza had been "met in
full." Full story
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
speaks at a press conference held jointly with European leaders (not
pictured) in Jerusalem, Jan. 18, 2009. Olmert said on Sunday that Israel
will withdraw troops out of the Gaza Strip once a stable truce is
guaranteed. (Xinhua/GOP) Photo
Gallery>>>
JERUSALEM, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Israel will pull troops out
of the Gaza Strip once a stable truce is guaranteed, said Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert on Sunday, after his country and Hamas each declared a ceasefire.
"We intend to leave Gaza as soon as possible once we
make sure that Israel's south is safe. We did not set out to take Gaza, and we
have no desire to stay in it," he told visiting European leaders in the evening
at his official residence. Full story
GAZA, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli army began on
Sunday evening withdrawing part of its troops from the Gaza Strip, after both
Israel and Hamas announced their ceasefire plans.
Footage of Israeli TV Channel 10 showed that Israeli
tanks and soldiers were moving toward the border from inside the Palestinian
enclave. An Israeli military spokesman later confirmed that the army has started
pulling out part of its forces. Full story
JERUSALEM, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert said Sunday that his nation will pull troops out of the Gaza Strip once a
stable truce is guaranteed.
"We intend to leave Gaza as soon as possible once we make
sure that Israel's south is safe. We did not set out to take Gaza, and we have
no desire to stay in it," he told visiting European leaders in the evening at
his official residence. Full story
SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- A
number of European and Mideast leaders wrapped up an international summit hosted
by Egypt on the situation of the Gaza Strip here on Sunday afternoon, pressing
for parties concerned to consolidate a fragile ceasefire in the Palestinian
enclave.
The international conference on Gaza, co-chaired by
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy, was
attended by a number of European leaders, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Arab
League Secretary General Amr Moussa as well as Palestinian President Mahmoud
Abbas. Full story
SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary
General Ban Ki-moon said on Sunday that the ceasefire in Gaza Strip should
become a durable and lasting truce.
Ban made his call at a press conference following an
international summit in the Egyptian resort, which was attended by a number of
European leaders, Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa and Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas. Full story
