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Olmert announces Gaza ceasefire
Israel's offensive has killed at least 400 children according to the UN AFP]
Ehud Olmert, Israel's prime minister, has announced a unilateral truce in the Gaza Strip.
Israel will halt its offensive in Gaza at 0000 GMT on Sunday but troops will remain in the enclave for the time being and will respond to Hamas fire, Olmert said on Saturday.
The announcement came after a meeting of Israel's security council on Saturday evening and halts the 22-day offensive which has left more than 1200 Palestinians dead, more than 400 of them children.
Mission accomplished
"We have reached all the goals of the war, and beyond," Olmert said.
"If our enemies decide to strike and want to carry on then the Israeli army will regard itself as free to respond with force," he added.
He said the war boosted Israel's deterrence and that Hamas's actions would decide when the military would withdraw.
"This operation strengthened the deterrence of the State of Israel in the face of all those who threaten us.
"If Hamas completely stops its attacks, we will judge at what moment we will leave the Gaza Strip," he said.
Hamas defiant
Hamas, however, said it would continue fighting in Gaza as long as Israeli troops remained in the Hamas-ruled Strip.
"If the Israeli military continues its existence in the Gaza Strip, that is a wide door for the resistance against the occupation forces," Osama Hamdan, a Hamas official in Lebanon told Al Jazeera.
Fawzi Barhum, a Hamas spokesman, said: "The Zionist enemy must stop all its aggression, completely withdraw from the Gaza Strip, lift the blockade, and open the crossings. We will not accept the presence of a single soldier in Gaza.
"The enemy's declaration of a unilateral ceasefire confirms that this is a unilateral war launched in one direction, from the enemy upon our people," Barhum, who is in Gaza, said in a statement.
Speaking at a forum in Beirut, Hamdan called on Arab leaders to stand by the Palestinian "resistance" and urged European nations to cut ties with Israel for its "crimes" in Gaza.
Olmert announces Gaza ceasefire
Israel's offensive has killed at least 400 children according to the UN AFP]
Ehud Olmert, Israel's prime minister, has announced a unilateral truce in the Gaza Strip.
Israel will halt its offensive in Gaza at 0000 GMT on Sunday but troops will remain in the enclave for the time being and will respond to Hamas fire, Olmert said on Saturday.
The announcement came after a meeting of Israel's security council on Saturday evening and halts the 22-day offensive which has left more than 1200 Palestinians dead, more than 400 of them children.
Mission accomplished
"We have reached all the goals of the war, and beyond," Olmert said.
"If our enemies decide to strike and want to carry on then the Israeli army will regard itself as free to respond with force," he added.
He said the war boosted Israel's deterrence and that Hamas's actions would decide when the military would withdraw.
"This operation strengthened the deterrence of the State of Israel in the face of all those who threaten us.
"If Hamas completely stops its attacks, we will judge at what moment we will leave the Gaza Strip," he said.
Hamas defiant
Hamas, however, said it would continue fighting in Gaza as long as Israeli troops remained in the Hamas-ruled Strip.
"If the Israeli military continues its existence in the Gaza Strip, that is a wide door for the resistance against the occupation forces," Osama Hamdan, a Hamas official in Lebanon told Al Jazeera.
Fawzi Barhum, a Hamas spokesman, said: "The Zionist enemy must stop all its aggression, completely withdraw from the Gaza Strip, lift the blockade, and open the crossings. We will not accept the presence of a single soldier in Gaza.
"The enemy's declaration of a unilateral ceasefire confirms that this is a unilateral war launched in one direction, from the enemy upon our people," Barhum, who is in Gaza, said in a statement.
Speaking at a forum in Beirut, Hamdan called on Arab leaders to stand by the Palestinian "resistance" and urged European nations to cut ties with Israel for its "crimes" in Gaza.