GAZA CITY — The ruling Hamas movement has claimed victory as Israel
withdrew troops from much of the Gaza Strip.
Hamas asserted that it drove Israeli troops out of the northern Gaza
Strip during heavy fighting over the weekend. The group, which employed
anti-tank weapons and semi-automatic fire, pledged to resume missile and
other strikes against the Jewish state.
"We have defeated the Israeli army," a masked operative told the
Saturday news conference in Bet Lahiya.
[On Sunday, Palestinian sources said Israeli main battle tanks crossed
into the northern Gaza Strip and were positioned in a former Jewish
community. The Israeli military denied the report.]
Hamas presented Israel Army-issued identification cards that were said
to belong to troops who fought in northern Gaza. The Palestinian group did
not elaborate.
Over the weekend, Israel withdrew troops from the northern Gaza Strip.
This included Bet Lahiya, Bet Hanoun as well as the former Israeli
communities along the Mediterranean coast.
The Israel Air Force and Artillery Corps, however, continued strikes on
suspected Palestinian targets. On Saturday, the air force bombed a suspected
Hamas weapons tunnel while artillery units fired toward suspected missile
launching pads in northern and southern Gaza.
Palestinian gunners intensified missile fire amid the Israeli invasion,
entitled Operation Summer Rain, in which more than 40 Palestinians and an
Israeli soldier were killed. On July 7, 16 Kassam-class, short-range
missiles were fired into Israel.
Israeli officials acknowledged that the military strike did not help win
the release of a soldier abducted by Hamas on June 25. They said the
military could be ordered to return to the Gaza Strip on short notice.
"It is important to stress that if the terrorists do not return the
Kassams to their warehouses, and if they do not return [abducted soldier]
Gilad Shalit, we will operate until he is returned and until the abilities
of the terror organizations are seriously damaged," Defense Minister Amir
Peretz said.