Hamas Claims 'Victory' In Gaza

Hamas's armed wing claims it lost only 48 fighters in the 22-day war with Israel in Gaza, as the fragile ceasefire held for a second night.

* The Palestinian militant group's armed wing also vowed to fight on unless Israel withdraws all its troops from the Palestinian territory.
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* "We announce to our people the martyrdom of 48 Qassam fighters," Abu Obeida, spokesman for the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, said in a televised press conference.
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* He also said Hamas inflicted heavy losses on Israeli forces and killed 80 soldiers and injured many others.
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* The Jewish state says it wants its soldiers to withdraw from Gaza as quickly as possible after claiming it had met its objectives in the three-week war.
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But the Hamas leadership declared a "great victory" over the Zionist armada following the unilateral ceasefire on Sunday.
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* Hamas leader Ismail Haniya said: "God has granted us a great victory, not for one faction, or party, or area, but for our entire people.
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* "We have stopped the Zionist aggression and the enemy has failed to achieve any of its goals," he stressed.
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* As the Islamist 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.
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Israel has said it wants to leave Gaza as quickly as possible after its most deadly offensive there which reduced much of the enclave to ruins.
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* The truce ends three weeks of bloodshed which has claimed the lives of more than 1,300 civilians including babies, children, women and elderly people while causing mass destruction.
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French President Nicolas Sarkozy hailed Israel's ceasefire but said it was "only a first step" and must go further.
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* "We should immediately convene a major international conference which would allow us to establish peace this year," Mr Sarkozy said.
* Gordon Brown, the UK Premier, urged Israel to reopen the crossings to long-blockaded Gaza, saying a sustainable ceasefire would require "humanitarian access" to the territory.