Israeli forces leaving Gaza

GAZA, Jan. 18 (UPI) -- Israeli forces began pulling out of Gaza Sunday with a cease-fire in place but there was pessimism about the prospects for peace, The Washington Post reported.

As Palestinians assessed the toll of more than two weeks of military strikes in Gaza, Alistair Crooke -- a former British intelligence officer who also advised the European Union Palestinian affairs -- noted that nether the Israelis nor the Palestinians had surrendered.

"The essence of this is you have two completely separate cease-fires, with no underpinnings in them of agreement or understanding, and no resolution of the original causes of the conflict," Crooke said. "On one level, it's back to square one, and all of the elements of the situation are back to where they were before the war."

Moussa Abu Marzouk, a senior Hamas official in Syria, announed the Gaza cease-fire on Syrian television Sunday, coupling it with a demand that "Israeli forces withdraw in one week and that they open all the border crossings to permit the entry of humanitarian aid and basic goods for our people in Gaza," CNN said.

The Palestinian cease-fire covers all Palestinian armed factions, not just Hamas. It came hours after Israel declared it was stopping its offensive in Gaza, in which more than 1,200 people died, all but 13 of them Palestinians.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Sunday the offensive had achieved its goals, but added the Israeli Defense Forces reserved the right to respond to any Palestinian violence, CNN reported.

"IDF forces are in the Gaza Strip and many other units, which are surrounding Gaza, from all sides, are closely observing every corner and listening to every whisper, ready for any response that they might receive from their commanders if and when the violations continue," Olmert said.

Israel's declaration of a unilateral cease-fire in Gaza didn't stop skirmishes Sunday. Palestinian militants fired several rockets toward the Israeli border town of Sderot Sunday morning after the cease-fire was implemented, followed by a strike from Israeli warplanes that targeted and hit the rocket-launching group, The New York Times reported.

Also, a Hamas gunman clashed with Israeli troops inside Gaza, officials said.