Israel and Hamas enter Gaza truce

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA (Reuters) - Israel and Hamas called a halt to fighting in the Gaza Strip on Thursday but, with peace prospects dim, both sides voiced doubt over how long the Egyptian-brokered ceasefire might hold.

Violence persisted in the hours before the truce was to begin at 6 a.m. (11:00 p.m. EDT). Dozens of short-range Palestinian rockets and mortar bombs hit south Israel without causing serious damage. Israeli air strikes hurt several Gazan gunmen.

"What they are calling a 'calm' is fragile and likely to be short-lived," Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in a speech near Tel Aviv, using a loose term both the Jewish state and Islamist Hamas prefer in the absence of a formal pact.

"Hamas and other terrorist groups ... have not changed their stripes or turned into lovers of peace," he said on Wednesday, reiterating a threat to invade Gaza should the truce collapse.

For Hamas, which routed the forces of Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to take over Gaza a year ago, suspending hostilities should spell some relief from an Israeli-led blockade on the impoverished coastal territory.

Though Hamas refuses to recognize Israel, their indirect dealings via Cairo could also help the faction gain legitimacy in the West and reconciliation with Abbas, who is in the midst of U.S.-sponsored peace negotiations with Olmert.

"We hope this means no more rockets will be fired by Hamas at innocent Israelis as well as lead to a better atmosphere for talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said about the truce.

Western officials said Israel planned to allow in a slightly higher number of truckloads of goods starting on Sunday, provided the truce was still in place. The Palestinians have made clear they want the full flow of imports restored.

Hamas rules Gaza but smaller Palestinian armed groups have in the past defied its ceasefire calls. The most recent Gaza truce, in November 2006, broke down quickly.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh voiced confidence all factions would respect Thursday's deal out of a sense of "national responsibility".

On an unusually conciliatory note, Haniyeh told reporters the truce could offer "comfort" to Israelis who have suffered shelling from Gaza. But Hamas made clear it would not stop training and arming its fighters and was ready to resume attacks.

"We have no illusions that the Occupation (Israel) has good intentions toward our people, and should the Occupation foil the calm, it would mean a return to an even stronger resistance," said Abu Ubaida, spokesman for the faction's armed wing.

The truce does not cover the occupied West Bank, where Abbas holds sway and where Israeli troops regularly operate. Bloodshed there could trigger reprisals from Gaza.

Another variable is ongoing talks, mediated by Cairo, on the return of an Israeli soldier held in Gaza for almost two years.

Israeli officials said the reopening of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt depended on a deal to free Sergeant Gilad Shalit.