Hamas week long truce follows rockets

Hamas appears to be re-positioning itself in response to the recently announced Israeli ceasefire. A senior Hamas official has stated that Hamas will shortly declare a cease-fire. Hamas is claiming that it will give Israel one week to withdraw from Gaza.

In Syria Hamas's exiled leader Khaled Mashaal is due to make "an important" announcement on Sunday afternoon which will address Israel's unilateral cease-fire declaration.

The move comes as Hamas militants in Gaza fired rockets into southern Israel on Sunday and continued to resist the unilateral cease-fire announced by Israel. The rocket firing risks restarting the violence that has lasted three weeks. Palestinian sources claim that more than 1,000 people have been killed. More bodies were being pulled from the rubble as the ceasefire took hold. 13 Israelis have died in the violence.

Israeli security sources have indicated that the military operation may not necessarily be over and that the Hamas response would be critical in deciding how things developed.

Israeli aircraft responded to the rockets on Sderot by destroying the rocket squad.

Hamas have said repeatedly that any truce will depend on Israel pulling out of Gaza.

The Israeli comes without a full solution to the problem of arms smuggling into Gaza.

Israel appears to have calculated that it's unilateral ceasefire in the days running up to President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration on Tuesday would leave Hamas in a no win position politically.

Hamas seized control of Gaza in June 2007 in a violent struggle and this triggered an Israeli blockade. However the longer term violence stems from Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands and provocations such as the creation of settlements in occupied territories.