‘We’re off to a new start’: Gaza residents claim victory over Israel as second IDF soldier dies from earlier rocket attack
Ibrahim Barzak, Karin Laub, Associated Press | Nov 22, 2012 12:26 PM ET | Last Updated: Nov 22, 2012 1:10 PM ET
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AP Photo/Adel Hana
A Palestinian boy and militants of
the Izzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, attend
funerals of five Hamas militants in Mugharka village, central Gaza
Strip, Thursday, Nov. 22, 2012. Five Hamas militants were killed in an
Israeli air strike yesterday, Palestinian health officials said.
Gaza residents cleared rubble and
claimed victory on Thursday, just hours after an Egyptian-brokered truce
between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers ended the worst cross-border
fighting in four years.
The cease-fire announcement had set off frenzied late night street celebrations in the coastal strip, and raised hopes of a new era in relations between Israel and Hamas. The two sides are now to negotiate a deal that would open the borders of the blockaded Palestinian territory.
“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.
However, the vague language in the agreement and deep hostility between the combatants made it far from certain that the bloodshed would end.
Israel launched the offensive on Nov. 14 to halt renewed rocket fire from Gaza, unleashing some 1,500 airstrikes on Hamas-linked targets, while Hamas and other Gaza militant groups showered Israel with hundreds of rockets.
It was the worst fighting since an Israeli invasion of Gaza four years ago.
The eight days of relentless strikes killed 161 Palestinians, including 71 civilians, and six Israelis.
The Israeli military said a soldier died from injuries sustained in a Palestinian rocket attack that occurred before a cease-fire with Hamas took effect.
The army says the reserve officer succumbed to his wounds Thursday, a day after he was hit. He’s the second Israeli soldier killed in the fighting.
Israel also destroyed key symbols of Hamas power, such as the prime minister’s office, along with rocket launching sites and Gaza police stations.
Despite the high human cost, Hamas claimed victory Thursday.
“The masses that took to the streets last night to celebrate sent a message to all the world that Gaza can’t be defeated,” said a spokesman, Sami Abu Zuhri.
While it is far from certain that Hamas will be able to pry open Gaza’s borders in upcoming talks, the latest round of fighting has brought the Islamists unprecedented political recognition in the region.
During the past week, Gaza became a magnet for visiting foreign ministers from Turkey and several Arab states — a sharp contrast to Hamas’ isolation in the past.
Israel and the United States, even while formally sticking to a policy of shunning Hamas, also acknowledged the militant group’s central role by engaging in indirect negotiations with the Islamists.
Israel and the West consider Hamas, which seized Gaza by force in 2007, to be a terrorist organization.
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak, meanwhile, defended his decision not to launch a ground offensive, in contrast to Israel’s invasion of Gaza in the winter of 2008-2009.
“You don’t get into military adventures on a whim, and certainly not
based on the mood of the public, which can turn the first time an
armoured personnel carrier rolls over or an explosive device is
detonated against forces on the ground,” he told Israel Army Radio.
“The world’s mood also can turn,” he said, referring to warnings by the U.S. and Israel’s other Western allies of the high cost of a ground offensive.
However, with the cease-fire just a few hours old, Israel was not rushing to bring home all of the thousands of reservists it had ordered to the Gaza border in the event of a ground invasion, Barak said.
Barak was defence minister during Israel’s previous major military
campaign against Hamas, which drew widespread international criticism
and claims of war crimes.
The mood in Israel was mixed, with some grateful that quiet had been restored without a ground operation that could have cost the lives of soldiers.
Others — particular those in southern Israel who have endured 13 years of rocket fire — thought the operation was abandoned too quickly and without guaranteeing their security.
The cease-fire announcement had set off frenzied late night street celebrations in the coastal strip, and raised hopes of a new era in relations between Israel and Hamas. The two sides are now to negotiate a deal that would open the borders of the blockaded Palestinian territory.
“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.
However, the vague language in the agreement and deep hostility between the combatants made it far from certain that the bloodshed would end.
Israel launched the offensive on Nov. 14 to halt renewed rocket fire from Gaza, unleashing some 1,500 airstrikes on Hamas-linked targets, while Hamas and other Gaza militant groups showered Israel with hundreds of rockets.
It was the worst fighting since an Israeli invasion of Gaza four years ago.
The eight days of relentless strikes killed 161 Palestinians, including 71 civilians, and six Israelis.
The Israeli military said a soldier died from injuries sustained in a Palestinian rocket attack that occurred before a cease-fire with Hamas took effect.
The army says the reserve officer succumbed to his wounds Thursday, a day after he was hit. He’s the second Israeli soldier killed in the fighting.
Israel also destroyed key symbols of Hamas power, such as the prime minister’s office, along with rocket launching sites and Gaza police stations.
AP Photo/Adel Hana Palestinian
militants of the Izzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas,
attend funerals of five Hamas militants in Mugharka village, central
Gaza Strip, Thursday, Nov. 22, 2012. Five Hamas militants were killed in
an Israeli air strike yesterday, Palestinian health officials said.
“The masses that took to the streets last night to celebrate sent a message to all the world that Gaza can’t be defeated,” said a spokesman, Sami Abu Zuhri.
While it is far from certain that Hamas will be able to pry open Gaza’s borders in upcoming talks, the latest round of fighting has brought the Islamists unprecedented political recognition in the region.
During the past week, Gaza became a magnet for visiting foreign ministers from Turkey and several Arab states — a sharp contrast to Hamas’ isolation in the past.
Israel and the United States, even while formally sticking to a policy of shunning Hamas, also acknowledged the militant group’s central role by engaging in indirect negotiations with the Islamists.
Israel and the West consider Hamas, which seized Gaza by force in 2007, to be a terrorist organization.
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak, meanwhile, defended his decision not to launch a ground offensive, in contrast to Israel’s invasion of Gaza in the winter of 2008-2009.
AFP PHOTO/MARTIN BERNETTIMARTIN BERNETTI/AFP/Getty Images Pro-Palestinian demonstrators protest against recent military action in Gaza by Israel in Santiago, Chile on November 22, 2012.
“The world’s mood also can turn,” he said, referring to warnings by the U.S. and Israel’s other Western allies of the high cost of a ground offensive.
However, with the cease-fire just a few hours old, Israel was not rushing to bring home all of the thousands of reservists it had ordered to the Gaza border in the event of a ground invasion, Barak said.
REUTERS/Ronen ZvulunAn
Israeli reservist soldier waits at a field before heading home, near
the border with the northern Gaza Strip November 22, 2012.
A ceasefire
between Israel and Hamas took hold on Thursday with scenes of joy among
the ruins in Gaza over what Palestinians hailed as a victory, and both
sides saying their fingers were still on the trigger.
The mood in Israel was mixed, with some grateful that quiet had been restored without a ground operation that could have cost the lives of soldiers.
Others — particular those in southern Israel who have endured 13 years of rocket fire — thought the operation was abandoned too quickly and without guaranteeing their security.
Labels: Conflict, Crisis Politics, Culture, Defence, Extraction Resources, Hamas, Israel
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