Security

The Guns Go Quiet in Gaza, for Now

After three weeks of fighting in Gaza, a shaky ceasefire has taken hold. Late on Saturday night, Israel announced a unilateral ceasefire that took effect today around 2:00 a.m. local time. Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups followed suit around 12 hours later. The truce, however, remains fragile. Ahead of the Hamas ceasefire announcement, militants […]

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After three weeks of fighting in Gaza, a shaky ceasefire has taken hold. Late on Saturday night, Israel announced a unilateral ceasefire that took effect today around 2:00 a.m. local time. Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups followed suit around 12 hours later.

The truce, however, remains fragile. Ahead of the Hamas ceasefire announcement, militants fired a salvo of rockets into southern Israel. Israel's Home Front Command -- a civil defense organization -- directed residents to prepare for the possibility that Hamas may resume rocket fire.

Both sides are spinning this as a victory. According to a statement released by the Israel Defense Forces, the decision to call a halt to the offensive "was reached after the IDF achieved the objectives it set for Operation Cast Lead, including the heavy hitting of the infrastructure, weaponry, rocket launching system and terror operatives of the Hamas terror organization."

In a speech on Syrian state television, Mussa Abu Marzuq, the exiled deputy chief Hamas, said: "The Israeli enemy has failed in its bid to impose conditions."

So what happens next? Israel is withdrawing troops, but there are hints that some Israeli forces may stay on in Gaza to keep Hamas from rearming. And a humanitarian crisis is looming; as the Associated Press reports, aid workers and doctors are waiting on the Egyptian border with Gaza to enter the coastal strip.

As we noted on DANGER ROOM, Israel waged a sophisticated campaign to dominate the information war. The offensive also showed an Israeli military that recovered from the setbacks of the 2006 war against Hezbollah. But Israel's gloves-off approach to dealing with Hamas took a heavy civilian toll, and provoked a lot of hand-wringing about disproportionate use of force. In a gloomy analysis in Ha'aretz, correspondent Aluf Benn writes, "Hamas' gains cannot be ignored: It has won international legitimacy and sympathy, and its forces still control the Gaza Strip."

[PHOTO: IDF]

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