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Leaving over 100 dead, IDF withdraws from Gaza By Haaretz Staff An Israel Air Force missile struck a group of Palestinian militants firing rockets from the north Gaza town of Beit Hanun late Monday, killing one man, Palestinian officials said. A second strike in the same area caused no casualties, they said. Advertisement The Israel Defense Forces confirmed both strikes, saying the first hit a rocket squad and the second struck a donkey cart loaded with rockets. The IDF pulled its ground troops out of the Gaza Strip yesterday, and Hamas seized the opportunity to declare "victory" in the intensive fighting that has killed more than 100 people in recent days. The pullback followed days of sequential fighting that drew an appeal from Washington to end violence and rescue peace talks with the Palestinians. The withdrawal came after the IDF senior command on Sunday recommended keeping up intensive military pressure on Hamas. Anticipating the likelihood that such approval would be granted by the country's political leadership, the army moved additional reinforcements to the area. It carried out several air strikes overnight east of Jabaliya, killing five more militants, medics and Hamas said. Hamas identified four of the slain militants as its own, and the fifth was named as a member of the Palestine Resistance Committees. The army said it had targeted workshops involved in making rockets. An Israeli official said Hamas should view the latest operation as a hint of future Israeli action against rocket fire. "This very limited (Gaza) operation was intended to show Hamas what could happen, what you may call a 'prequel'," he said. "If they decide they've seen enough and stop the rockets, if they get the message, then we may get into a period of quiet. If they continue to fire the rockets, then there will be more operations like this one or worse," the official said. Military sources said that the intention of the operation had not been to bring rocket fire to a complete halt, but to clarify to Hamas that the IDF would continue to attack its militants if the group did not change its policy and act against the rockets itself. Vice Premier Haim Ramon, deputy to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told Army Radio: "This operation has run its course. "The main goal of the Israeli government ... is to end the firing at targets in the south. There were dozens of deaths among the Hamas terrorists - this is certainly a deterrent." "The enemy has been defeated," a Hamas spokesman said. Israel Radio broadcast a news bulletin from Hamas radio, in which the group said the IDF had failed in its efforts to curb Palestinian rocket fire against Negev towns. Bookmark to del.icio.us   UN hushes Human Rights Council observes moment of silence for Gaza 'martyrs.' Hitler's sign Document shows that British spies hired a flamboyant astrologer in World War II.

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