Israeli ground troops withdraw from Gaza

JEBALIYA – Israeli aircraft pummeled targets in Gaza for the sixth straight day yesterday and militants fired rockets at a major Israeli city even as the fighting showed signs of slowing, with the army pulling ground troops out of northern Gaza.

The departing soldiers left behind scenes of devastation in this northern Gaza town: roads plowed up, cars crushed by tanks and electric poles toppled. Hamas militants declared victory and staged a large celebration in Gaza City.But Israeli officials said the ground pullback was only temporary and that the overall offensive was continuing.”We are acting and we will continue to act in a way that is painful and effective, that will bring maximum results in terms of halting terror,” Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told members of his Kadima Party.The fighting has killed some 120 people since last Wednesday – 117 Palestinians and three Israelis and brought home the huge challenges facing the latest US-sponsored peace push as long as Israel and Hamas are locked in a seemingly endless spiral of violence.United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is scheduled to visit the region today to promote peace talks.But with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas suspending those talks to protest the Gaza bloodshed, it wasn’t clear what Rice would be able to accomplish.The Palestinians have two rival governments: Abbas’ moderate administration in the West Bank and the Hamas regime in Gaza.As Israel was withdrawing from Jebaliya, it carried out a series of airstrikes, targeting weapons manufacturing and storage facilities, a Hamas headquarters and police station.Five militants were killed, the group said.Gaza militants continued to fire rockets into southern Israel.Three rockets hit the city of Ashkelon on Monday morning, Israeli rescue services said, with one scoring a direct hit on an apartment building.No casualties were reported.Israel moved into Jebaliya late Friday as part of a broader offensive launched last week in response to heavy rocket fire from Gaza.The attacks on Ashkelon, 17 kilometres north of Gaza, marked a significant improvement in Hamas’ rocket range and suddenly put the city of 120 000 people under daily fire.The Israeli infantry started withdrawing from Jebaliya after midnight yesterday, the army said.Amid the rubble, Palestinian medical teams found three more bodies after the troops left.At least one of them was a militant, they said.Residents who had been trapped in their houses for days began emerging, and some collected equipment left behind by the Israelis: ammunition clips, food cans, two bloody stretchers and a helmet with a bullet hole in it.Nampa-APHamas militants declared victory and staged a large celebration in Gaza City.But Israeli officials said the ground pullback was only temporary and that the overall offensive was continuing.”We are acting and we will continue to act in a way that is painful and effective, that will bring maximum results in terms of halting terror,” Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told members of his Kadima Party.The fighting has killed some 120 people since last Wednesday – 117 Palestinians and three Israelis and brought home the huge challenges facing the latest US-sponsored peace push as long as Israel and Hamas are locked in a seemingly endless spiral of violence.United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is scheduled to visit the region today to promote peace talks.But with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas suspending those talks to protest the Gaza bloodshed, it wasn’t clear what Rice would be able to accomplish.The Palestinians have two rival governments: Abbas’ moderate administration in the West Bank and the Hamas regime in Gaza.As Israel was withdrawing from Jebaliya, it carried out a series of airstrikes, targeting weapons manufacturing and storage facilities, a Hamas headquarters and police station.Five militants were killed, the group said.Gaza militants continued to fire rockets into southern Israel.Three rockets hit the city of Ashkelon on Monday morning, Israeli rescue services said, with one scoring a direct hit on an apartment building.No casualties were reported.Israel moved into Jebaliya late Friday as part of a broader offensive launched last week in response to heavy rocket fire from Gaza.The attacks on Ashkelon, 17 kilometres north of Gaza, marked a significant improvement in Hamas’ rocket range and suddenly put the city of 120 000 people under daily fire.The Israeli infantry started withdrawing from Jebaliya after midnight yesterday, the army said.Amid the rubble, Palestinian medical teams found three more bodies after the troops left.At least one of them was a militant, they said.Residents who had been trapped in their houses for days began emerging, and some collected equipment left behind by the Israelis: ammunition clips, food cans, two bloody stretchers and a helmet with a bullet hole in it.Nampa-AP