Gaza truce holds as Israel, Hamas claim \\\'victory\\\'

FE Team | Published: August 28, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

GAZA CITY, Aug 27 (agencies): An open-ended ceasefire in the Gaza war between Israel and the Palestinians held on Wednesday as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced strong criticism in his country's newspapers over a campaign in which no clear victor emerged.
On the streets of the battered, Hamas-run Palestinian enclave, people headed to shops and banks, trying to resume the normal pace of life after seven weeks of fighting.
In Israel, sirens warning of incoming rocket fire from the Gaza Strip fell silent, but media commentators voiced deep disappointment over Netanyahu's leadership during the most prolonged bout of Israeli-Palestinian violence in a decade.
The skies over Gaza remained calm Wednesday as a long-term ceasefire took hold, ending the deadliest violence in a decade, with Israel and Hamas both claiming 'victory' in the 50-day war.
Millions in and around the war-torn enclave enjoyed a welcome night of peace during which there were no strikes on Gaza, nor Palestinian rockets fired at Israel, the Israeli army said.
"We were able to sleep!" said a Gazan man, Alaa al-Jaro. "We had the best sleep ever after the Israeli aggression ended."
"A ceasefire has been signed, and this time it should last, not like before," said 16-year-old Raed Alaa Habeb from Gaza City's battered Shejaiya neighbourhood.
"We trust in this ceasefire."
The agreement, which went into force at 1600 GMT Tuesday, saw the warring sides agree to a "permanent" ceasefire which Israel said would not be limited by time, in a move hailed by Washington, the United Nations and top world diplomats.