Sun, 18 Jan 2009 13:45:41 GMT Israeli tanks retreat to the outskirts of Gaza City as the IDF began observing a unilateral ceasefire in the strip on Sunday. Hamas has announced an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, giving Israel one week to completely withdraw its forces from the area. The Sunday announcement was made by the faction’s senior official Ayman Taha, who is currently in Cairo for diplomatic talks. “Hamas and the factions announce a ceasefire in Gaza starting immediately and give Israel a week to withdraw,” Taha said. He also called on Israel to open all border-crossings to allow in ‘the basic needs of the people’, including food, medical supplies and other goods. The development came shortly after Israel announced that it will not consider a timetable for the withdrawal of its forces from the Gaza Strip despite declaring a ‘unilateral ceasefire’ in the beleaguered region. Israel announced a unilateral truce late Saturday after a three-week-long full-scale offensive that killed at least 1,300 Palestinians and wounded 6,000 others across the populated territory. The announcement, which means a potential halt in military operation, has drawn strong criticism from the Israeli military as Tel Aviv failed to achieve the primary goals set at the beginning of the war on Gaza, Israeli website Debkafile reported. Israeli forces, however, did not respect the ‘unilateral ceasefire’ and continued dropping white phosphorous bombs on Gaza residents on Sunday. SB/MMN

Senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniya said the Gaza war with Israel amounted to a “great victory” for the Palestinians, in a televised speech on Sunday.

“God has granted us a great victory, not for one faction, or party, or area, but for our entire people,” said Haniya, the prime minister appointed by the Islamist movement Hamas in the impoverished territory.

“We have stopped the aggression and the enemy has failed to achieve any of its goals,” he added, less than 24 hours after Israeli halted a massive offensive on Gaza that killed more than 1,300 Palestinians.

The senior Hamas leader has been in hiding since the start of the offensive on December 27, but made two previous televised statements promising victory amid the deadliest Israeli offensive ever launched on the territory.

Haniya confirmed his movement’s decision earlier Sunday to adhere to its own unilateral truce for one week to allow Israel to withdraw all its troops and to reopen Gaza’s border crossings.

“The groups of the resistance have decided to halt their fire in Gaza so that the enemy army can completely withdraw,” he said.

“The decision proves that the resistance was correct and responsible, and works according to the interests of our people.”

Israeli troops began withdrawing from Gaza after the ceasefire took effect at 2am on Sunday (1100 AEDT Sunday) but the Jewish state has said its military will return fire if attacked and has not set a date for their full withdrawal.

AFP