Thursday, January 22, 2009

Israeli troops meet pull-out ultimatum

Israel has completed its troop pullout from Gaza within the one-week deadline Hamas had given Tel Aviv for its full withdrawal.

An Israeli army spokesman said on Wednesday that Israeli forces have withdrawn from the Gaza Strip.

"The last soldier left the Gaza Strip this morning," the spokesman said. "However, the army remains deployed all around the Gaza Strip to meet any eventuality."

The spokesman did not give further details about the withdrawal.

Israeli troops began pulling out of Gaza on Sunday evening amid world condemnation of Israeli crimes against the Palestinians.

Israel announced a unilateral ceasefire on Sunday, after which Hamas responded positively by giving Tel Aviv a one-week ultimatum to withdraw all its forces from the area and end its 18-month blockade of the coastal enclave.

The Israel Air Force nevertheless confirmed on Tuesday that it had staged new attacks in the Gaza Strip, despite its ceasefire.

While Tel Aviv has met the troop withdrawal part of the ultimatum, Press TV correspondents on the ground in Gaza have revealed that Israel ships blockading the Palestinian territory continue to shell residential areas in the strip.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniya on Sunday declared the Israeli pull-out request as a "great victory" for all Palestinians, saying Tel Aviv had failed to achieve its objectives.

The democratically-elected Palestinian official warned that Israel must also end its 18-month blockade on the coastal region.

At least 1,340 Palestinians have been killed and 5,320 others have been wounded in the recent Israeli operations. At least 1,100 of those killed were civilians.

Israel has put the number of its soldiers killed at 13.

Hamas, however, says it has killed at least 80 Israeli soldiers.

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