Gaza was enjoying a second night of calm today as Israeli troops began withdrawing after their deadly 22-day onslaught in the battered territory was halted by a fragile ceasefire deal.

israel forces pull out of gaza attack 190109 05

As the Hamas movement and other militant groups also announced a week-long truce of their own, the guns on both sides fell silent giving Gaza's traumatised population a second night of relative peace.

Israel has said it wants to leave Gaza as quickly as possible after its deadliest-ever offensive there which reduced much of the enclave to ruins - a devastating war in which Hamas leader Ismail Haniya claimed a "great victory".

"God has granted us a great victory, not for one faction, or party, or area, but for our entire people," said Haniya, Hamas' prime minister, in a televised address.

israel forces pull out of gaza attack 190109 06 "We have stopped the aggression and the enemy has failed to achieve any of its goals," he added.

As medics scrambled to pull dozens of bodies from the mountains of rubble left by Israel's three-week offensive, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel intended to withdraw troops "as quickly as possible".

Israel told to stop blockade of Gaza

French President Nicolas Sarkozy hailed Israel's ceasefire but said it was "only a first step" and must go further.

"We should immediately convene a major international conference which would allow us to establish peace this year," Sarkozy said.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown urged Israel to reopen the crossings to long-blockaded Gaza, saying a sustainable ceasefire would require "humanitarian access" to the territory.

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Israel's decision to call a unilateral ceasefire in its war on Hamas came about after it won pledges from Washington and Cairo to help prevent arms smuggling into the Gaza Strip - a task in which Europe has also pledged to help.

Top leaders from Britain, France, Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic, which holds the rotating EU presidency, attended a dinner in Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert late on Sunday after earlier participating in a summit in Egypt aimed at shoring up the truce.

A senior Israeli official said Olmert had thanked the European leaders for their support for Israel's concerns and had urged them to follow through on their commitments to combat weapons smuggling into the Gaza Strip.

"He urged them to follow through their commitments on smuggling and efforts to stop the rearmament of Hamas," the official said.

Egypt held separate talks with Hamas and President Hosni Mubarak announced plans to host an international aid conference to help rebuild Gaza.

Hamas offers one-week truce

Cairo has also invited Israeli and Palestinian officials for separate meetings on Thursday to discuss an Egyptian initiative for an extended truce, state news agency MENA reported.

It was not immediately clear whether the invitation had been accepted to the talks which are aimed at "taking the necessary steps to stabilise the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip" and ending the siege of Gaza, a foreign ministry official told MENA.

After exchanges of gunfire and an air strike punctured what Olmert acknowledged was a "fragile" unilateral ceasefire, Hamas and other militant groups announced a one-week truce of their own.

israel forces pull out of gaza attack 190109 03 "(We) demand that enemy forces withdraw in a week and open all the border crossings to permit the entry of humanitarian aid and basic goods," Mussa Abu Marzuk, the deputy leader of Hamas's politburo, said in Damascus.

Gaza militants, however, fired at least 18 rockets and mortar rounds at Israel following Olmert's announcement, the army said.

The military confirmed troop withdrawals had begun after witnesses in Gaza City saw troops pulling back towards the border fence.

Olmert on Saturday said he had ordered an end to the Gaza offensive but warned troops would return fire if attacked.

After the ceasefire came into effect at 2am (8am Malaysian time), Gaza enjoyed its first bomb-free night in more than three weeks, but there were soon signs that the calm may unravel.

As militants fired rockets and Israel launched retaliatory air strikes, troops killed an eight-year-old girl in the northern town of Beit Hanun and a 20-year-old man near Khan Yunis in the south, medics said.

95 bodies pulled from rubble

israel forces pull out of gaza attack 190109 01 Gaza medics took advantage of the halt in the fighting to rush to areas which had been inaccessible, pulling at least 95 bodies from the rubble, including those of several children.

The discoveries brought the overall death toll since Israel launched Operation Cast Lead on Dec 27 to more than 1,300, medics said.

On the ground, residents cautiously ventured out onto the streets.

"Everything has been completely destroyed," said Yahia Karin, 54, in Zeitun, a Gaza City neighbourhood ravaged by furious battles between Israeli ground troops and Hamas militants.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas repeated his call for a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the reopening of the enclave's border crossings.

Israel and Egypt have sealed Gaza off from all but vital humanitarian aid since Hamas seized power there in June 2007.