GAZA CITY - Gaza was enjoying a second night of calm on Monday as Israeli troops began withdrawing after their deadly 22-day onslaught in the battered territory was halted by a fragile ceasefire deal.
As the Palestinians began counting the cost of Israel's deadliest-ever offensive in the impoverished coastal strip, Hamas leader Ismail Haniya claimed a "great victory" in the three-week war which reduced huge swathes of Gaza to smouldering rubble.
As Israel insisted it wanted to leave Gaza as quickly as possible, Hamas and other militant groups said they would hold their fire for one week to allow the troops to withdraw.
"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.
"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".
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.
The delegation from Britain, France, Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency, attended a dinner in Jerusalem with 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.
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.
"(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 2:00 am (0000 GMT), 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.
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 December 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.