Hamas cries victory; truce with Israel holds
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.
___
Associated Press writers Amy Teibel and Ian Deitch in Jerusalem, Aron Heller in Sderot, Israel, and Mohammed Daraghmeh in Cairo contributed reporting.
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.
___
Associated Press writers Amy Teibel and Ian Deitch in Jerusalem, Aron Heller in Sderot, Israel, and Mohammed Daraghmeh in Cairo contributed reporting.
"The armed men displayed grenade launchers and assault rifles mounted atop more than 100 brand-new pickup trucks. "
Man, talk about sticking your tongue out at a foe. That would have been a perfect time for Israel to strike. Don' think for a minute that Hamas wouldn't have taken advantage of a similar situation.
If Hamas has many more "victories" like this, Gaza will be a parking lot.
 @MidnightRambler Really? They won an agreement by Israel to look at opening up travel between Gaza and the West Bank - something Israel has refused to allow.
And they did it without an Israeli invasion - which would have been a disaster for both, but mostly for Israel. Plus they were able to get the Israelis to recognize that Hamas is the actual government of Gaza.
@OrcasThunder Israel unleashed 1,500 air strikes in this short skirmish. I'm not sure how many more 1,500 sorties Gaza could survive.
 @MidnightRambler And thereby proving that Israel is predictable, in spite of being made to look the heavy in every incident.
Israel needs to rethink it's iron fist mindset and allow the Palestinians the freedom to cross their own borders, to visit their relatives, regardless of where in the Palestinian lands they are. Israel needs to allow free enterprise in both Gaza and the West Bank - but instead they compute the survival level of food and nutrition needed to keep the people of Gaza alive, and then reduce the amount of food they allow into the area. They need to stop the theft of Palestinian lands using "settlements" and "exclusion" areas and fences that deny Palestinian farmers access to their own land. They need to stop separating Israel citizens who are Arabs or Jews married to Arabs from their families.
Could Israel bomb Palestine back to rubble and sand? Of course they could. But when did having the might equate with being in the right? Germany in 1939 had the might, and they used it to remove Poland as a "threat"...and THAT solution worked - for about 5 years.
 @OrcasThunder Agreed.....Would Hamas sacrifice Gaza for the destruction of Israel? If so, the Palestinians should rethink who they elect to represent them. If Hamas continues to send rockets into Isreal, they will contine to receive a 10-fold response.
 @MidnightRambler Only by leaving only dead bodies as a result - and even then, such a horror would only make everyone else into citizens of Gaza. Israel would not survive the destruction of Gaza.
 @OrcasThunder I'm not debating the morality of Israel. I'm just saying Israel could erase Gaza if they wanted.
 @MidnightRambler Well, Gaza survived the 3 week invasion which killed over a thousand people - most of whom were innocent men, women and children. An invasion that left a lot of questions about the morality of Israeli actions during that 3 week occupation. The use of White Phosphorous,
the shelling of schools, apartment buildings and hospitals that evidence has proved were not legitimate targets. The fact that Israel itself put some of it's own troops on trial for war crimes, and the long running total Israeli blockade of the borders,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaza_War
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The forced rationing of vital supplies by Israel puts many of the people of Gaza at a subsistence level:
"In January 2008, the Israeli government calculated how many calories per person were needed to prevent a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza strip, and then subtracted eight percent to adjust for the "culture and experience" of the Gazans. Details of the calculations were released following Israeli human rights organization Gisha's application to the high court. Israel's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, who drafted the plan, stated that the scheme was never formally adopted, this was not accepted by Gisha.[188][189][190]
Starting 7 February 2008, the Israeli Government reduced the electricity it sells directly to Gaza."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli%E2%80%93Palestinian_conflict
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Keep in mind that there are over 1.7 million people living in an area less than twice the size of Washington, DC.
Israel had to do what Owebama wanted them to do, too many casualties would hurt Netanyahu's reelection bid also. It'll be fine for awhile, then the same thing again and now that Morsi has basically made himself Pharoah of Egypt it's just a matter of time before the peace deal goes out the door, you ain't seen nothing yet but fortunately for us the end has already been revealed thousands of years ago and it's going exactly as written so pray for all the innocents on both sides and keep looking up for the return of Yeshua.
 @Lbaba Amen
I'm SO glad that Israel is "man enough" to ignore the cr@p talking Hamas leaders. Those terrorists need to be wasted. (and not in a HAPPY way) This story is like watching a Taco Bell dog almost get eaten by a Great Dane, the Dane spits it out because it leaves a bad taste in it's mouth, and the Taco Bell dog struts around like it's bad@ss. Yea right. At any given moment, Israel could wipe these clowns off the face of the Earth, and would be justified in doing so. It's a good thing our ally is smart, and can avoid bigger conflict. However, if Hamas keeps up it's B.S.......don't be surprised if Israel just squashes them like a bug......like they should.
 @Wolfen  @p I'd like to know how you would  react if 64 years ago your grandfather was kicked off his land - land that had been in your family for centuries - and that land was given to a previously persecuted group of people so that they might start anew.  What's the chance of that turning out well?
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Notice how the media propaganda brainwashes people using semantics. Â Israeli's have commandos (such a righteous sounding word). Â Palestinians have guerrillas, militants or terrorists.Â
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The Palestinians are freedom fighters, resistance fighters. Â Can you not empathize with them if you were in the same situation? Â What Israel has done to the Palestinians is an example of the abused growing up to be the abuser.
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There are many Jewish Israeli human rights groups that see what has and is happening to the Palestinians as nothing more than criminal, illegal and unconscionable.Â
 @Pattata  @Wolfen Ahh...the Truth. Face it, Wolfen & co. aren't ready for that yet.
I abhore war in the Middle East and believe Israel should clear out of the West Bank Settlements and negotiate with the Palestinians to turn the West Bank over to them. Gaza is a different matter however. Frankly I support an Israeli incursion into Gaza to take care of Hamas once and for all .Hamas may have the hearts and minds of many of those in Gaza but if Israel can clean out Hamas and couple Gaza with a free West Bank Palestine, they will have something. Hamas now believes they can attack Israel with impunity and the Egyptian Islamist President's star has now risen to the point where he can disregard the Egyptian court and legislative systems. The Islamist Party vows the destruction of Israel. We blew it by pressing Egypt to mediate and Israel blew it by not taking out Hamas once and for all. Egypt now may feel it can Invade and Iran will come out the ultimate winner. I don't believe we should go to war with Iran at this point but we can't afford to loose the battles on the edges.
 @smokey307 "and couple Gaza with a free West Bank Palestine"
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Sounds like a worthy idea - but how do you link them up? There is a country separating them - the State of Israel, and I don't expect THEM to give up land to join the two.
Now, free passage between the two through (or over) Israeli land would be a good start, but that could have been done decades ago and the Israelis won't consider it. The result is divided families, separate governments, pretty much a ghettoisation of the people and the community of Gaza.
And if you think that the Israelis can "take out" Hamas by invading, they tried that some time back, and it was an unmitigated disaster. And they only managed to strengthen the position of Hamas with the Palestinians. Even if they wiped out every person in that territory they would not succeed in that goal, and they would be condemned for doing exactly what was done to them in the 1930's and 40's.
They have had wars beyond counting with the people they displaced, and all they accomplish is to lay the ground for another turn of the wheel, time after time.
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