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News Story
07 September 2008 03:45 BST
Israel withdraws troops from Gaza as death-toll surpasses 100
Monday, 03 Mar 2008 09:44
Israel ends Gaza Strip offensive that killed more than 100 Palestinians. File licensed under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5 License
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Israel
has all but ended its weekend-long offensive into the
Gaza Strip
that left more than 100 people dead and drew widespread international criticism.
Troops and tanks have mostly withdrawn from the territory after two days of fighting, with an army spokesman telling reporters Operation Hot Winter was "winding down".
"Almost all our forces have already returned to Israel," the army said.
Israel launched a full-scale incursion into Gaza in response to rocket fire from Hamas militants it said had killed one civilian.
Since then, more than 100 Palestinians are understood to have been killed, with Gazan hospitals reporting that more than a third of the dead are children.
Israel lost two soldiers in the operation, the army said.
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has already suspended contact with Israel in protest at the offensive, which saw the Israeli navy shell targets in Gaza.
Mr Abbas joined the US,
Europe
an Union, United Nations and the Vatican in demanding Israel end its assault.
UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon, speaking after more than 60 Palestinians were killed on Saturday, said Israel's actions were "disproportionate and excessive".
"I [also] condemn Palestinian rocket attacks and call for the immediate cessation of such acts of terrorism."
Slovenia, which holds the rotating presidency of the EU, said it rejected the "collective punishment of the people of Gaza".
"Such activities are contrary to international law," a statement said.
"The presidency at the same time reiterates its condemnation of continued firing of rockets into Israeli territory and calls for its immediate end."
Speaking from George Bush's Texan ranch, US national security council spokesman Gordon Johndroe told reporters: "The violence needs to stop and the talks need to resume."
US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice is due to arrive in the region later this week to continue peace talks started in Annapolis, Maryland, last year.
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