TEL AVIV // Three weeks after launching its biggest-ever assault in the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 1,150 Palestinians so far, Israel announced yesterday it is halting its attacks in a unilateral ceasefire in the impoverished territory without entering into any deal with Hamas.
Israel's 12-member security cabinet decided in a late-night meeting that the onslaught will stop, but that Israeli troops will remain in Gaza for a limited time while Egypt mediates a long-term truce with Hamas, and will return fire if attacked.
After a meeting of the security cabinet, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he was calling an immediate end to offensive operations but added that troops would stay in Gaza for the time being with orders to return fire if attacked.
"At 2:00 in the morning (0000 GMT) we will stop fire but we will continue to be deployed in Gaza and its surroundings," Olmert said in a speech after the vote.
"We have reached all the goals of the war, and beyond," he added.
"If our enemies decide to strike and want to carry on then the Israeli army will regard itself as free to respond with force."
In recent days, Israeli leaders had weighed a proposal by Egypt that called for a ceasefire that would be followed by a long truce and the opening of Gaza's border crossings.
Officials of Hamas said yesterday that as long as Israeli troops are in Gaza, violence will not be stopped. Osama Hamdan, the group's representative in Lebanon, was quoted by Agence France-Presse as saying: "As long as [Israel] remains in Gaza, resistance and confrontation will continue."
Israel's announcement prompted Egypt to invite several world leaders - including from France, Germany, Britain and Turkey - as well as Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, and Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, for a hastily planned summit on the Gaza conflict in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheikh today.
Israel has said its main objectives in the onslaught are to hinder the ability of Hamas and other Gaza militant factions to fire rockets on its southern communities, including by halting the smuggling of arms through tunnels from Egypt into Gaza.
Since its assault began on Dec 27, Israel has blown up hundreds of tunnels on the Gaza-Egypt border, but Israeli leaders are worried that smugglers will dig up new routes once the fighting subsides. However, the Egyptian government maintains that the tunnels are mainly used for food and that most weaponry was smuggled in by sea.
Hamas has demanded Israel pull out its forces from Gaza and end its blockade of the territory by opening the country's border crossings with the enclave. Israel has imposed a near-total blockade on Gaza - which included preventing the shipments of such basic supplies as fuel, medicines and food products - since Hamas took control of the territory in June 2007 by routing the rival Fatah faction. In return for lifting the siege, Hamas officials last week offered a one-year renewable ceasefire.
The security cabinet's decision followed a flurry of separate meetings in the past few days between delegations of Israel and of Hamas with Egyptian officials in Cairo. Amos Gilad, a senior defence ministry official who was in Cairo for the talks, is said to have returned with a favourable account of Hamas's intentions on accepting the terms of the Egyptian plan and of Egypt's pledges to act against arms-smuggling into Gaza.
The cabinet's vote emerged one day after Israel signed a "memorandum of understanding" with the United States on efforts to halt Hamas's arms-smuggling. The agreement was signed in Washington by Tzipi Livni, Israel's foreign minister, and Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, and called for the United States to help track and hinder smugglers attempting to supply Hamas with rockets and other munitions. Yesterday, Britain, France and Germany also said they would help prevent smuggling.
The Israeli campaign has left more than 1,150 Palestinians dead and over 5,300 injured in the tiny, densely populated enclave of 1.5 million Palestinians. During the operation, 10 Israeli soldiers were killed while three civilians died from rocket fire.
Just hours before the Israeli vote on the withdrawal of troops yesterday, the army continued to pound Hamas targets in Gaza. The attacks included the shelling of a UN school where Palestinian refugees were taking shelter from the fighting. The strike - the latest in a series of hits on UN installations in Gaza since Israel's operation began - killed at least two Palestinians - a woman and a child - and drew sharp criticism from the United Nations.
The onslaught threatened to unravel delicate ties with some Arab countries, with Qatar - the only Gulf Arab state with a relationship with Israel - announcing on Friday that it would request that Israel shut its trade office in Doha. Some Arab and Muslim leaders called for a suspension of the Arab Peace Initiative. That plan, approved in 2002, offered to normalise relations with Israel in return for its complete withdrawal from all occupied territories and a just solution of the issue of Palestinian refugees.
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
The stats
Ship name: MSC Bellissima
Ship class: Meraviglia Class
Delivery date: February 27, 2019
Gross tonnage: 171,598 GT
Passenger capacity: 5,686
Crew members: 1,536
Number of cabins: 2,217
Length: 315.3 metres
Maximum speed: 22.7 knots (42kph)
The specs: 2018 Chevrolet Equinox
Price, base / as tested: Dh76,900 / Dh110,900
Engine: 2.0L, turbocharged in-line four-cylinder
Gearbox: Nine-speed automatic
Power: 252hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: Torque: 352Nm @ 2,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 8.5L / 100km
Jigra
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
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Sarfira
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
Rating: 2/5
Company profile
Company name: Suraasa
Started: 2018
Founders: Rishabh Khanna, Ankit Khanna and Sahil Makker
Based: India, UAE and the UK
Industry: EdTech
Initial investment: More than $200,000 in seed funding
THE BIO
Bio Box
Role Model: Sheikh Zayed, God bless his soul
Favorite book: Zayed Biography of the leader
Favorite quote: To be or not to be, that is the question, from William Shakespeare's Hamlet
Favorite food: seafood
Favorite place to travel: Lebanon
Favorite movie: Braveheart
PROFILE OF HALAN
Started: November 2017
Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport and logistics
Size: 150 employees
Investment: approximately $8 million
Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar
How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
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The Penguin
Starring: Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz
Creator: Lauren LeFranc
Rating: 4/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
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Everybody%20Loves%20Touda
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Best Foreign Language Film nominees
Capernaum (Lebanon)
Cold War (Poland)
Never Look Away (Germany)
Roma (Mexico)
Shoplifters (Japan)