Israel, Hamas agree to stop deadly strikes

Egypt brokers a cease-fire; Gazans celebrate in streets

Palestinians celebrate news of the cease-fire agreement Wednesday in Gaza City that calls for Israel and Hamas to stop all hostilities, but details of how the plan will be enforced remained unclear.
Palestinians celebrate news of the cease-fire agreement Wednesday in Gaza City that calls for Israel and Hamas to stop all hostilities, but details of how the plan will be enforced remained unclear.

— 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 airstrikes 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. Some residents hugged and kissed, while others distributed candy and waved Hamas flags.

“I just hope they commit to peace,” said Abdel-Nasser al-Tom, from northern Gaza.

Minutes before the deal took effect at 9 p.m. Jerusalem time, there was a spasm of Palestinian rocket attacks and Israeli airstrikes, including one that killed a Gaza man. After 9 p.m., the airstrikes ceased, but a dozen more rockets hit, police said. Schools in the region planned to stay shut today in case rockets continue to be fired.

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.

The cease-fire deal was brokered by the new Islamist government of Egypt 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.

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.

Clinton, at the news conference in Cairo, pledged to work “with our partners across the region to consolidate this progress, improve conditions for the people of Gaza, provide security for the people of Israel.”

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 weapons 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 cease-fire,” he said.

The White House said Obama talked to Netanyahu on Wednesday and commended him for agreeing to the proposal. Obama also spoke to Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi and thanked him for his efforts to achieve the agreement, as well as his personal leadership in negotiating the proposal.

Under the terms distributed after the news conference, Israel agreed to stop all land, sea and air hostilities in Gaza, including the “targeting of individuals” — a reference to militants of Hamas and its affiliates who have been killed. The cease-fire also calls on the Palestinian factions in Gaza to stop all hostilities against Israel, including rocket attacks and attacks along the border.

It was unclear how the agreement would be enforced but the terms stated that “each party shall commit itself not to perform any acts that would breach this understanding.”

BORDER CROSSINGS AT ISSUE

After a 24-hour cooling-off period, the agreement calls for “opening the crossings and facilitating the movement of people and transfer of goods, and refraining from restricting residents’ free movement.”

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, but 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. Israel has gradually eased the closure but continues to restrict the movement of certain goods through Israelicontrolled 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 have 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 also was 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 agreement came after Clinton shuttled across the region to help broker an end to the violence. She ended her meetings in Cairo, where 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.

Mashaal had strong words of praise for the Egyptian leader, a former official in the Muslim Brotherhood, in which Hamas has roots. At a news conference in Cairo, Mashaal thanked Egypt for its role and said Israel had “failed in all its objectives.”

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 shortlived,” he said.

BUS BOMBING IN TEL AVIV

Hours before the deal was announced, a bomb exploded on a bus in Tel Aviv near Israel’s military headquarters, wounding 27 people and leading to fears of a breakdown in the diplomacy.

The blast, which left the bus charred and its windows blown out, was the first bombing in Tel Aviv since 2006. A device was 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 said.

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.

IRANIAN TALKS ROCKETS

Meanwhile, a report Wednesday that quoted the head of Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard said Iran had supplied Hamas in Gaza with the technology to “quickly” produce longer-range missiles on their own without needing direct shipments.

Iranian-engineered Fajr-5 missiles have struck near Tel Aviv and Jerusalem during the fighting with Israel.

“Gaza is under siege, so we cannot help them. The Fajr-5 missiles have not been shipped from Iran. Its technology has been transferred and [the missiles are] being produced quickly,” Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari was quoted as saying by the semiofficial ISNA news agency.

Iran has repeatedly denied it directly supplied Hamas with the Fajr-5. The ISNA report gave no further details on the level of missile knowhow sent to Gaza or the channels used.

Israel repeatedly has accused Iran of sending weapons, including rockets, to Gaza through a network of smuggling tunnels under the 9-mile border between Gaza and Egypt.

Washington blamed Hamas rocket fire for the most recent outbreak of violence and backed Israel’s right to defend itself, but it cautioned that an Israeli ground invasion could send casualties soaring.

A three-week armed conflict in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Palestinian militants during the winter of 2008–09 killed more than 1,000 Israelis in bombings and shooting attacks and left more than 5,000 Palestinians dead.

Palestinians and Israelis expressed doubts about the cease-fire deal Wednesday.

In Gaza City, Samer Mazar said he was holding off on moving his family back to their home near the border with Israel.

“I want to see if the ceasefire holds up first,” he said. “We do not trust them when they say it is over. We have to see it first.”

Ya’ara Menachem, a 41-year-old resident of the southern Israeli city of Sderot, didn’t see much hope for the deal’s success.

“This is a pause, not a peace,” Menachem said. “We don’t believe in cease-fires anymore.”

Information for this article was contributed by Sarah El Deeb, Mohammed Daraghmeh, Ariel David, Matthew Daly and Nasser Karimi of The Associated Press; by David D. Kirkpatrick, Ethan Bronner and Rick Gladstone, Jodi Rudoren, Fares Akram, Isabel Kershner, Alan Cowell, Peter Baker, David E. Sanger, Mark Landler and Andrea Bruce of The New York Times; and by Sheera Frenkel of McClatchy Newspapers.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 11/22/2012

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