- Title: ISRAEL: Israeli troops claim victory as Israel declares a unilateral ceasefire
- Date: 18th January 2009
- Summary: ISRAEL-GAZA BORDER, ISRAEL (JANUARY 18, 2009) (REUTERS) TWO HELICOPTER FLYING OVER GAZA CLOSER VIEW OF HELICOPTER FLYING OVER GAZA ROW OF TANKS WITH SOLDIERS ATOP ROLLING OUT OF GAZA CLOSER VIEW OF TANKS ROLLING OUT OF GAZA SOLDIERS STANDING ATOP A TANK, DANCING CLOSE OF SMILING SOLDIER ANOTHER SOLDIER SMILING SOLDIERS ON TOP OF TANK CHEERING AND CLAPPING HANDS SOLDIERS S
- Embargoed: 2nd February 2009 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Israel
- Country: Israel
- Topics: International Relations
- Reuters ID: LVABPTDBSK29V6QY9HMIQ0CTQP6Y
- Story Text: Smiling and waving Israeli flags atop tanks, Israeli troops returned from Gaza on Sunday (January 18) after Israel declared a unilateral ceasefire.
Rows of tanks returned on dirt roads as the ground forces crossed back into the Jewish state.
"The most important thing is that we are safely home, and they should stop firing on Sderot and Beersheva," said one soldier.
Another solider declared Israel's victory over Hamas.
"They are very weak, the Hamas. Of course, we won. It is not a question even. We won and we've got the upper hand," he said.
Israel's unilateral truce went into effect at 2 a.m. (0000 GMT). Within hours, five rockets were fired at the Israeli town of Sderot, causing no casualties, an Israeli military spokesman said.
Hamas, though hit hard by the air and ground campaign, remained the de facto force within the coastal enclave.
After 22 days of fierce assaults in the Gaza Strip, Israel appeared to be back at the starting point -- threatening military action unless cross-border rocket salvoes stopped.
Hamas said it would not accept the presence of Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip and would "continue to resist them".
Palestinian militants fired rockets into southern Israel from Gaza, in defiance of the unilateral ceasefire that Israel declared hours earlier.
Israel launched air strikes on the Gaza Strip on Dec. 27 and ground troops pushed into the enclave a week later, saying its main aim was an end to the rocket fire that had killed 18 people in Israel over the previous eight years.
Israeli attacks killed more than 1,200 Palestinians, and some 700 civilians during the offensive, Gaza medical officials said. Israel said hundreds of gunmen were among the dead. Ten Israeli soldiers and three civilians hit by rockets were killed. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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