ISRAELI troops began withdrawing from the Gaza Strip yesterday as both sides agreed to a ceasefire and both sides claimed victory in the 22-day conflict.
No air strikes, rockets or major clashes were reported in the territory, giving Gazans their first night of complete peace since the start of Israel's massive assault on Hamas in their stronghold on December 27.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel wanted to leave "as fast as possible", while Hamas claimed it had defeated Israel in "a heavenly victory".
Humanitarian aid was being rushed into Gaza following the heavy toll of the past three weeks -- an estimated 1300 Palestinians were killed and 5000 injured while 13 Israelis were killed since the conflict began.
European leaders travelled to Cairo and Jerusalem yesterday to try to ensure that the ceasefire -- considered fragile -- lasts beyond the week that Hamas has declared it for.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy called on Israel to state "immediately and clearly" that if rocket fire from Hamas into southern Israel stopped, the Israeli army would leave Gaza.
"There is no other solution to achieve peace," he said.
Mr Olmert said in response: "We didn't set out to conquer Gaza, we didn't set out to control Gaza, we don't want to remain in Gaza and we intend on leaving Gaza as fast as possible."
The leaders of France, Britain, Spain, Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic met Mr Olmert after a summit in Cairo chaired by Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak and attended by moderate Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Hamas was not invited.
Mr Sarkozy addressed one of Israel's major concerns -- the smuggling of weapons through the border area between Gaza and Egypt, known as the Philadelphi corridor, which Israel says are then used to attack it.
Mr Sarkozy said: "We must put an end to the arms traffic."
He said European leaders had agreed to make available to Egypt and Israel "technical, diplomatic and military" means to put an end to the arms smuggling.
Israel and Egypt have sealed Gaza off from all but vital humanitarian aid since Hamas, an Islamist group pledged to Israel's destruction, seized power there in June 2007 by routing forces loyal to President Abbas.
Israel claims that Iran is the driving force behind the weapons being smuggled into Gaza as part of a campaign to destabilise the Jewish state.
Mr Olmert told the leaders in Jerusalem that he regretted that civilians were killed during the offensive, saying Hamas was responsible as they had taken cover among civilian populations.
"We did not want to hurt them or their children," he said.
In a sign that the Gaza conflict and what to do about it will be a major issue at Israel's national election on February 10, Benjamin Netanyahu, the former prime minister who as candidate for the conservative Likud party is front-runner in most opinion polls, said: "The IDF (Israeli Defence Force) has dealt Hamas a severe blow, but the job has not been completed."
The issue of how to "complete the job" will dominate much campaigning -- the debate will be whether greater emphasis should be on military or diplomatic means.
Hamas leaders, meanwhile, claimed Hamas had won the war. Leader Ismail Haniyeh said it had been "a heavenly victory".
"The enemy has failed to achieve its goals," he said.
Another Hamas leader, Ghazi Hamad, responding to Israeli claims of victory, said: "This is not a victory (for Israel)."
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