Israeli troops withdrew from the Gaza Strip as a last-minute cease-fire deal took hold Sunday morning, but two major Palestinian militant groups later fired volleys of home-made rockets into Israel.
Occasional rocket and mortar fire from Gaza continued to strike Israel within the truce's first hour. Hamas and Islamic Jihad have claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying it's in response to the earlier arrests of two Hamas members in the city of Hebron.
Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman, said all Palestinian groups had agreed to honour the truce, but it was up to Israel to prevent further conflict.
"...Everything now is ok because Hamas is committed to prevent shelling rockets at Israel, and now the ball is (in the Israeli court) - that they have to prevent their shelling and bombardment and killing and all types of terrorism and killing against our people."
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has instructed Israel's security forces to show restraint despite repeated Palestinian violations. Olmert said he wanted to give the ceasefire a chance to succeed.
" I instructed our security forces not to react, to show restraint and give this ceasefire a chance so it can come into being, as the Palestinian President committed to me last night.''
The two sides announced the truce late on Saturday after Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas telephoned the Israeli Prime Minister with an agreement from Palestinian militant groups to halt rocket fire and other attacks from Gaza.
Israel's military said all troops were withdrawn from Gaza in the hours before the announced 6am cease-fire went into effect.
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