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| Palestinians celebrate the announcement of a cease-fire between Hamas and Israel in Gaza City, Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2012. Israel and the Hamas militant group agreed to a cease-fire Wednesday to end eight days of the fiercest fighting in nearly four years, promising to halt attacks on each other and ease an Israeli blockade constricting the Gaza Strip. |
GAZA CITY, Gaza
Strip (AP) -- Israel and the Hamas militant group agreed to a
cease-fire Wednesday to end eight days of the fiercest fighting in
nearly four years, promising to halt air strikes and rocket attacks that
have killed scores and to discuss easing an Israeli blockade
constricting the Gaza Strip.
Cheering Gazans
emerged from their homes after a week, flooding the streets in wild
celebration. Gunmen fired in the air, and chants of "God is Great"
echoed from mosque loudspeakers. Residents hugged and kissed in
celebration, while others distributed candy and waved Hamas flags.
"I just hope they commit to peace," said Abdel-Nasser al-Tom, from northern Gaza.
However,
a dozen rockets hit southern Israel until an hour after the cease-fire
deadline, authorities said, and schools in the region planned to stay
shut Thursday as a precaution in case rockets continue to be launched.
The
deal was brokered by the new Islamist government of Egypt, solidifying
its role as a leader in the quickly shifting Middle East after two days
of intense shuttle diplomacy that saw U.S. Secretary of State Hillary
Rodham Clinton race to the region. Under the agreement, Egypt will play a
key role in maintaining the peace.
Hamas
leader Khaled Mashaal said the deal included an agreement to open all
border crossings with the Gaza Strip, including the important Rafah
crossing with Egypt. A copy of the deal obtained by The Associated Press
appeared to be somewhat vague about the details on the crossings.
"The document provides for the opening of all crossings," he insisted.
Minutes
before the deal took effect at 9 p.m. local time. (2 p.m. EDT) there
was a spasm of Palestinian rocket attacks and Israeli airstrikes,
including one that killed a Gaza man minutes before the deadline. After 9
p.m., the airstrikes ceased, but a dozen more rockets hit, police said.
The stragglers did not seem to pose a threat to the truce deal.
Israel
had launched well over 1,500 airstrikes and other attacks on targets in
Gaza since fighting started Nov. 14, while more than 1,500 rockets
pounded Israel. In all, 161 Palestinians, including dozens of civilians,
were killed, while five Israelis died.
Standing
next to Clinton, Egypt's foreign minister, Mohammed Kamel Amr,
announced the truce breakthrough that capped days of intense efforts
that drew the world's top diplomats into the fray.
The
agreement will "improve conditions for the people of Gaza and provide
security for the people of Israel," Clinton said at the news conference
in Cairo.
In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu said he agreed to the cease-fire after consulting with
President Barack Obama to allow Israeli civilians to get back to their
lives. He said the two leaders also agreed to work together against
weapon smuggling into Gaza, a statement confirmed by the White House.
Netanyahu also left the door open to a possible ground invasion of Gaza at a later date.
"I
know there are citizens that expected a wider military operation and it
could be that it will be needed. But at this time, the right thing for
the state of Israel is to take this opportunity to reach a lasting
ceasefire," he said.
According to a copy of
the agreement obtained by The Associated Press, Israel and all
Palestinian militant groups agreed to halt "all hostilities." For the
Palestinians, that means an end to Israeli airstrikes and assassinations
of wanted militants. For Israel, it brings a halt to rocket fire and
attempts at cross-border incursions from Gaza.
After
a 24-hour cooling off period, it calls for "opening the crossings and
facilitating the movement of people and transfer of goods, and
refraining from restricting residents' free movement."
Hamas officials said details on the new border arrangements would have to be negotiated.
Israel
imposed its blockade of Gaza after Hamas, a militant group sworn to
Israel's destruction, seized control of the territory five years ago. It
has gradually eased the closure, but continues to restrict the movement
of certain goods through Israeli-controlled crossings. Among the
restrictions: a near-complete ban on exports, limited movement of people
leaving the territory, and limits on construction materials that Israel
says could be used for military use.
The deal
was vague on what limits Israel would lift, and whether Gaza's southern
passenger terminal on the Egyptian border would be expanded to allow
cargo to pass through as well. The deal was also unclear about a key
Israeli demand for an end to arms smuggling into Gaza in tunnels
underneath the border with Egypt.
Under the
agreement, Egypt will play a key role. It said "Egypt shall receive
assurances from each party" that they are committed to the deal.
"Each
party shall commit itself not to perform any acts that would break this
understanding," it adds. "In case of any observations, Egypt - as the
sponsor of this understanding - shall be informed to follow up."
The
deal marked a key victory for Egypt's new Islamist government, which is
caught in a balancing act between its allegiance to Hamas and its need
to maintain good relations with Israel and the U.S. Hamas is an offshoot
of Egypt's ruling Muslim Brotherhood.
The
agreement came after Clinton shuttled across the region to help broker
an end to the violence. She ended her meetings in Cairo, where Egyptian
President Mohammed Morsi mediated between Israel and Hamas. U.N. chief
Ban Ki-moon also flew across the region as part of the diplomatic
cease-fire push.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud
Barak said the military had achieved its goals of strengthening
Israel's deterrence capabilities and hammering militants in Gaza.
"We expect the agreements to be fully honored, but from past experience we are aware it might be short-lived," he said.
Hours
before the deal was announced, a bomb exploded on a bus in Tel Aviv
near Israel's military headquarters that wounded 27 people and led to
fears of a breakdown in the shuttle diplomacy Clinton and U.N. chief Ban
Ki-moon were conducting in the region.
The
blast, which left the bus charred and its windows blown out, was the
first bombing in Tel Aviv since 2006. It appeared aimed at sparking
Israeli fears of a return to the violence of the Palestinian uprising
last decade, which killed more than 1,000 Israelis in bombings and
shooting attacks and left more than 5,000 Palestinians dead as well.
The
blast was from a device placed inside the bus by a man who then got
off, said Yitzhak Aharonovich, Israel's minister of internal security,
While Hamas did not take responsibility for the attack, it praised the bombing.
"We
consider it a natural response to the occupation crimes and the ongoing
massacres against civilians in the Gaza Strip," Hamas spokesman Fawzi
Barhoum told The Associated Press.
Bassem
Ezbidi, a West Bank political analyst, said it was unlikely Hamas itself
was behind the attack, since it would not want to risk losing any of
the international support it gained in recent days.
"If
Hamas wants to target civilians it would do so by firing rockets, but
not by buses because such attacks left a negative record in the minds of
people. Hamas doesn't need this now," he said.
The
bombing came as 10,000 Palestinians sought shelter in 12 U.N.-run
schools, after Israel dropped leaflets urging residents to vacate their
homes in some areas of Gaza to avoid being hit by airstrikes, said Adnan
Abu Hassna, the U.N. Relief and Works Agency spokesman.
The
influx of displaced people came a day after the head of UNRWA, Filippo
Grandi, warned that the agency urgently needed $12 million to continue
distributing food to the neediest Gazans. The agency runs schools,
shelters and food programs for hundreds of thousands of Palestinian
refugees and their descendants in Gaza.
Huge
clouds of black smoke rose above the Gaza City skyline Wednesday as
airstrikes pounded a sports stadium, used as a launch site for rocket
attacks on Israel in the past, and a high-rise office building housing
Hamas-affiliated media offices, but also Agence France-Presse.
AFP
reporters said they evacuated their fourth-floor office Tuesday, after
an initial strike targeted sixth-floor offices linked to Hamas and other
smaller factions.
A 4-year-old boy was killed
in the second attack on the high-rise Wednesday, Gaza health official
Ashraf al-Kidra said. The boy, Abdel-Rahman Naim, was in his family
apartment in the building when he was struck by shrapnel and died on the
way to Gaza's Shifa Hospital, al-Kidra said.
Washington
blames Hamas rocket fire for the outbreak of violence and has backed
Israel's right to defend itself, but has cautioned that an Israeli
ground invasion could send casualties soaring.
