Guns Quiet As Fragile Gaza Truce Begins

Long-Sought Cease-Fire Meant To Stop Hamas' Rocket Attacks, Israel's Blockade Of Gaza

(CBS/AP)  Guns went quiet as a six-month truce between Israel and Gaza Strip militants took effect early Thursday, marred only by widespread skepticism about its ability to hold.

The cease-fire, which Egypt labored for months to conclude, also obliges Israel to ease a punishing blockade that has driven ordinary Gazans even deeper into destitution and confined them to their tiny seaside territory.

A day of intense Palestinian rocket and mortar fire and Israeli air reprisals on Wednesday underscored just how fragile the agreement would be. Shortly before the truce took hold, a Hamas militant was killed in an Israeli air strike in central Gaza that the military said targeted a rocket squad.

Hamas, the Islamic militant group that has ruled Gaza for the past year, reported that the Israeli navy fired four shells into the waters off Gaza City minutes after the truce began. But the shells fell about 500 yards from shore and there were no apparent targets in the area, witnesses reported, suggesting the shells might have been fired as part of a military drill. The military had no immediate comment.

More than two hours into the truce, there were no other reports of fire. In Gaza and in Israel, the cease-fire dominated radio talk shows Thursday morning.

But, reports CBS News correspondent Robert Berger, both sides doubt the truce can hold. "Hamas refuses to recognize the Jewish state and is committed to armed resistance, so Israel fears the group will dig in for the next round of violence," says Berger.

Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev put a fine point on the mistrust. "If we see Hamas using this period of quiet just to rearm and regroup, all bets are off. There will not be an understanding."

Berger reports the cautionary rhetoric was no more optimistic from the Palestinian side. "We are going to do everything we can to support it, in spite of all the doubt we have that Israel will commit itself to the cease-fire," said Jamal Nazzal, a spokesman for the Fatah government in the West Bank.

Although each side has expressed skepticism over the other's commitment to the accord, the hope is that it will avert an Israeli military invasion of the coastal strip meant to quell rocket and mortar squads.

As the truce began Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice prepared to address the U.N. Security Council in New York to bolster last-ditch efforts by the Bush administration to achieve a broader peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, reports CBS News foreign affairs analyst Pamela Falk.

"Expectations are low with regard to the completion of the Middle East roadmap" before the end of Mr. Bush's tenure, said Falk. "But there is some hope that the Egypt-brokered cease-fire and the Turkey-brokered talks between Israel and Syria can help avert a major conflict in the region this summer."

Tal Mahatzili of the southern Israeli farming community of Nir Oz said she was afraid the tranquility Thursday morning was "the quiet before the storm."

"If I could believe our neighbors had stopped their hostile activities, washed their hands at 6:05 and went to the local library to draft a peace proposal, then I would say, "Wow,' and heave a sigh of relief," she told Israel Radio. "To my great regret, I'm afraid the malevolent activities across the border won't stop."

Eman Mahmoud, a 22-year-old Gaza university student, dreamt of a return to normalcy.

"I want to be able to sleep without the sound of shelling or warplanes. This is the most important thing to me," she said. "We have been living a nightmare. ... I am not sure how long it is going to last, but my dream is that this calm will continue."

In an email to reporters, Hamas' military wing declared itself "completely and comprehensively" committed to the truce. But it warned that the cease-fire was not a "free gift to the occupiers" and that Hamas gunmen were ready to "launch a military strike that will shake the Zionist entity state" if Israel did not abide by all its cease-fire commitments.

Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said Israel would "fully implement all its commitments" under the agreement, but added, "Our eyes are open, we are closely following what the other side is doing."

In the first stage of the Gaza deal, which took effect at 6 a.m. Thursday (2200 Wednesday, Eastern), militants are to halt their attacks on Israel, and Israel is to cease its raids.

If the quiet holds, Israel will ease its blockade of Gaza on Sunday to allow the shipment of some supplies to resume. A week later Israel is to further ease restrictions at cargo crossings, which in recent months have been closed to all but humanitarian aid and restricted fuel supplies.

In a final stage, negotiators are to tackle Hamas' demand to reopen a major border passage between Gaza and Egypt and Israel's insistence that Hamas release an Israeli soldier it has held for two years.

"We in Hamas are committed to this calm and are interested in making it succeed," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said shortly before the truce went into effect. "The ball is now in Israel's court."

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert voiced hope Wednesday that the truce would succeed.

"I believe there will be quiet in (Israel's) south," he said in a speech Wednesday to philanthropists. But, quickly downplaying expectations, he instructed his military "to prepare for any operation, short or long, that might be necessary" should the truce break down.

A cease-fire in November 2006 lasted only weeks before unraveling.

Egypt acted as middleman for the current deal because Israel, like much of the international community, shuns Hamas for refusing to recognize Israel or renounce violence.

The immediate halt of hostilities is likely to prove to be the easy part of the deal. Israel's point man on the truce talks, Defense Ministry official Amos Gilad, said late Wednesday that Gaza's main gateway to the outside world, the Rafah crossing with Egypt, would not reopen unless Israeli Cpl. Gilad Schalit were released. But Hamas' military wing said Thursday that Schalit "would not see the light" unless hundreds of Palestinian prisoners were freed.

Israel has balked at releasing some of the militants Hamas wants released because they were involved in fatal attacks on Israelis.

Rafah was snapped shut after Hamas violently wrested control of Gaza a year ago from security forces loyal to moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who now rules only in the West Bank. Although Rafah lies on the Gaza-Egypt border, Israel has had the power to idle it because Europeans monitoring the passage require Israeli security clearance to operate. That clearance has not been given since the Hamas takeover.

The Hamas Interior Ministry sent an email to reporters Thursday saying 260 Palestinians who had been stranded in Egypt after seeking medical treatment there had crossed back into Gaza through Rafah overnight. It said 5,517 Gazans, including students and Palestinians with residency abroad, have applied to leave if Rafah is opened. "We expect very good news in the next few days," the ministry said - hinting at a temporary opening to allow those people to leave.

[midland666]

terrorislami ..

thats bercause if you dont have separation of church and state, or state and synagogue, or state and whatever religious ideology, youll never have equality....

thats because conservatives of any religion will use the teachings and misinterpret them to fit their agenda,
being liberal forces you to think in human terms,
not in fairy tales.

[terrorislami]

Carter was absolutely correct in his book "Peace not Apartheid."
Posted by galloglaigh at 01:59 AM : Jun 19, 2008

ummmmmmmm all muslim majority countries are APARTHEID,,, non-muslims do not have equal rights,,,

[galloglaigh]

...about his fluffy book that has more errors than you can count on your toes , hands and teeth
Posted by earth56 at 07:35 PM : Jun 19, 2008


It''s easy to make that statement. Why don''t you point out some of the errors?

Page and paragraph?

Just one or two?

[fake-id-2009]

P.S. Carter is the most incompetent leader of all time, a thoroughly evil man, and has been destructive to all parties in this matter. A complete and utter waste of oxygen.
Posted by jackie0428 at 02:25 AM : Jun 19, 2008


Really!!! Glad to see that you have an "open mind" about the situation.

Speaking of evil and incompetence...the most evil and incompetent leader in my lifetime is still in the White House. Bush should be prosecuted for war crimes and the murder of over 4000 young American men and women.

[fake-id-2009]

Malik Obama confirms his half-brother Barack grew up a Muslim
Apparently the Obamas of Kenya have no doubt -- contrary to the claims of the Obama campaign, that the presidential candidate was raised a Moslem. Posted by terrorislami at 12:34 PM : Jun 19, 20


Actually that story has been disputed by both ABC and CNN, and others. Malik Obama never said that.

If you were as adept at finding the truth on the internet as you are at finding rumors and lies, your posts might be worth taking seriously. But...you''re happy posting ********* that few take seriously.

[dobbershome]

Kill em'' all with extreme prejudice!

[snapper4298]

I wonder who''ll break the ceasefire? Yeah, it''ll be the "militants". However Israel will somehow get blamed.

Sit back and watch...and remember my words. Hamas has no respect for democracy and no desire to engage with it.

[payasyougo]

Korea used such ceasefires to re-supply.

Good luck to those folks in the middle east.

[j-whitman]

unofficialy,,, Kind of hard to believe this 6 month truce is anything more than the political missuse of the War on Terror -
-- More designed to mask the problems untill after our own election, the same political agenda of our GOP in Iraq & Afhganistan.

[unofficialy]

kinda hard to believe that there will be peace with the terrorists cause once there would be peace and the plain folk would see the beauty of it they would revolt against the terrorist hamas

[j-whitman]

terrorislami-Lars,,, Are you calling General Petreaus soft on Terrorist ?? - He has the same policies of Obama & not McCain

They seem an odd couple: the general who engineered President Bush''s surge in Iraq, and the presidential candidate who has promised to undo it. But look again. Gen. David Petraeus''s broad new agenda as the likely next commander of Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees U.S. forces in the entire Middle East and Central Asia, seems to echo some of Barack Obama''s views about the critical front in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/142136

[terrorislami]

HUSSEIN IS SOFT ON FASCIST NAZI TERRORISLAMIST JIHADISTS,,,

HELL HIS KENYAN FAMILY AND TRIBE ARE FASCIST NAZI TERRORISLAMIST JIHADISTS,,,

will hussein stop his radical muslim luo tribe relatives from slaughtering non-muslims???

apparently not,,,

U.S. Troops to African "hotspot"?

Obama Jr. Says ''''Not Yet''''

http://www.usvetdsp.com/jan08/obama_


lou%20tribe.htm

Just one day before the Jan. 3, 2008 Iowa caucus, Sen. Barack Hussein Obama Jr. (D-Ill.), who is aiming to be America''''''''s first African-American president, found himself taping a message from Iowa to Kenya for broadcast on the Voice of America.

Kenya, the homeland Obama Jr''''s family''''s Luo tribe, burst into post-election violence after Raila Odinga, a fiery Luo tribe opposition leader and Kenya presidential candidate, alleged the Dec. 27 voting that re-elected President Mwai Kibaki of the Kikuyu tribe was rigged

More than 360 people were killed and over 250,000 displaced provoking a humanitarian crisis in a country previously considered a stable pillar in east Africa.

[cfin5]

Posted by terrorislami at 01:34 PM : Jun 19, 2008---- Really. The terrorists will now get representation without taxation while we get taxation without representation.

[terrorislami]

HUSSEIN IS SOFT ON FASCIST NAZI TERRORISLAMIST JIHADISTS,,,

HELL HIS KENYAN FAMILY AND TRIBE ARE FASCIST NAZI TERRORISLAMIST JIHADISTS,,,

Obama''s Cousin Charged With Ethnic Cleansing
http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2008/01/great-obamas-cousin-charged-with-ethnic.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7192958.stm

Obama''s relative linked to Ethnic Cleansing in Kenya
http://libertarianrepublican.blogspot.com/2008/02/obamas-relative-linked-to-ethnic.html

Signs in Kenya That Killings Were Planned
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1957451/posts

Ten Obvious Reasons Why Islam is NOT a Religion of Peace
http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/Pages/Top-10-Reasons.htm

Kenya Muslim Violence Pictorial *Warning Graphic*

Africa, Kenya, Muslims%u2026nothing more needs to be said%u2026
http://patdollard.com/2008/01/kenya-muslim-violence-pictorial-warning-graphic/

The Kenyan jihad
http://www.spectator.co.uk/melaniephillips/433766/the-kenyan-jihad.thtml

nothing new,,, more radical muslims ethnically cleansing non-muslims

19 Burned to Death in Violence in Kenya
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1960644/posts

[j-whitman]

terrorislami-Lars,,, It does nothing but give them the right to challenge military tribunals that are still proceding.

[j-whitman]

terrorislami-Lars,, Get over it -- McCain is calling youn STUPID again -

-- The decision upholds America''s Constitution, For once in the War on Terror they will be tried in our courts for a crime committed against our nation.

[terrorislami]

HUSSEIN IS SOFT ON FASCIST NAZI TERRORISLAMIST JIHADISTS,,,

HELL HIS KENYAN FAMILY AND TRIBE ARE FASCIST NAZI TERRORISLAMIST JIHADISTS,,,

Obama Sides With Radical Islamists

The magnitude of difference between the two candidates running in our presidential election could not be more stark! After reading the statements of both Obama and McCain regarding the horrible Supreme Court 5-4 decision to allow Gitmo detainees the right to be tried in civilian courts, we can clearly see what a flawed, unfortunate, and terrible direction Obama would take this country if [God forbid!!]elected in November.

Obama''s statement:

Barack Obama statement on the Supreme Court''s 5-4 decision today extending civilian legal protections to terrorist suspects held in Guantanamo Bay:

Um...er...earth to Obama? Foreign terrorists caught in battle against our forces during war have never been eligible for "habeas corpus"! They are not covered by the Constitution of the United States of America. So...what "rule of law" are you referring to?
http://talkwisdom.blogspot.com/2008/06/obama-sides-with-radical-islamists.html

[j-whitman]

watcher269,,, You haven''t been Watching - This so-called truce only lasts for 6 months, just enough time to give our GOP the illusion of success. -- If it lasts that long ----

---- Just more GOP Electioneering in the War on Terror --

[l00ker]

MIT: The difference here is that the Palestians have been given every opportunity to co-exist and have taken every oppotunity to wage a cowardly war. Isreal has only retaliated everytime the Palestians have attacked. Palstine does not want peace, what they want is the elimination of the Isreal.

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Posted by Edward1975 at 12:16 PM : Jun 19, 2008
+ report abuse


Indeed, they''ve been given every opportunity to live like slaves in a jew created cess pool, and have shown their lack of appreciation, by trying to rid themselves of their jew oppressor and live like people in the rest of the world. They don''t want the jew''s peace indeed.

[l00ker]

ommmmmm, ommmmmm. Ahhh, feel all relaxed now.

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Posted by bhoogren at 12:13 PM : Jun 19, 2008
+ report abuse


seig...heil...seig...heil...seig...heil...aaahhh, what a rush...