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'Mortar fire' claim threatens ceasefires in Gaza
Ed Harris20.01.09
The ceasefires declared by Israel and Hamas were strained almost to breaking point today as Israel's military leaders claimed militants in the Gaza Strip fired a mortar shell.
But police finally said it appeared that the projectile never reached Israel.
The firing was the first violation of a shaky truce that ended the three-week Israeli offensive in Gaza. Israel was withdrawing the last of its troops from Gaza today, and the mortar attack was not expected to change those plans.
The military said a warning siren that went off was a false alarm.
Israel's ceasefire came into effect on Sunday, and Hamas declared its own ceasefire later that day.
Today's withdrawal of troops continued as the United Nations' secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon visited the Gaza Strip and saw the devastation left behind after Israel's 22-day offensive.
Ahmad Fawzi, a spokesman for MrBan, said: "The secretary-general was keen to express solidarity with the people of Gaza who have suffered so much over the past few weeks and the UN staff who have continued heroically to provide assistance."
However, two children playing with unexploded ordnance were killed when it detonated, Hamas officials said.
Mr Ban, who met Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert before travelling to the Gaza Strip, planned to visit southern Israel, an area hit by Palestinian rockets during the Gaza war, later today. Mr Ban told Mr Olmert that he wanted to help to make the ceasefire "durable".
Gaza's infrastructure was left in ruins and the repair bill was estimated by the Palestinian statistics bureau to be about £1.3billion. Hamas said 5,000 homes, 16 government buildings and 20 mosques were destroyed.
Palestinian militant groups said 112 of their fighters and 180 Hamas policemen were killed. Israel put its dead at 10 soldiers and said three civilians were killed in rocket attacks.
Gaza medical officials said the Palestinian dead included at least 700 civilians. Israel, which accused Hamas of endangering non-combatants by operating in densely populated areas, said hundreds of militants were among the dead.
More than 1,300 Palestinians were killed in Israel's air and ground strikes, launched on 27 December with the declared aim of ending rocket attacks from the strip aimed at Israeli towns.
