Israel today pulled the bulk of its forces in Gaza back towards its own border at the start of what it said would be a swift withdrawal, as the true scale of the destruction inside the coastal territory became clear.
After Hamas followed Israel in agreeing a ceasefire yesterday, ending three weeks of heavy fighting that left more than 1,300 Palestinians dead and much of Gaza in ruins, Arab nations met to begin planning the reconstruction of its devastated infrastructure and economy.
The Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, said his government wanted to get forces out of Gaza "at the greatest possible speed". Israeli officials told the Associated Press the plan was to leave before Barack Obama's inauguration as US president tomorrow.
No Israeli troops or tanks could be seen along the main road between Rafah, in the south of Gaza, and the outskirts of Gaza City, to the north. The bulk of the forces were believed to have withdrawn towards Israel's border with the east of Gaza.
Israel has made it clear it remains ready to retaliate if provoked by Hamas. Seventeen rockets were fired into Israel yesterday, some of them after Hamas declared its ceasefire.
Today, Hamas's military wing vowed to begin rearming as soon as possible. "Manufacturing the holy weapons is our mission and we know how to acquire weapons," Reuters reported Abu Ubaida as telling a news conference.
Leaders and representatives from more than 20 Arab nations met today in Kuwait to discuss reconstruction in Gaza. Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah said his country would begin by donating $1bn (£680m) to help finance the rebuilding.
The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, is to visit Gaza tomorrow, an Israeli foreign ministry spokesman told the AFP news agency. Ban would go to "several UN sites in Gaza", Yossi Levy said. Last week the UN head called for an investigation after Israeli shells struck a compound run by the UN refugee agency in Gaza, setting part of it on fire.
Today, Ban told the conference Arab leaders should unite around the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah movement was routed from Gaza by the more militant Hamas in mid-2007.
"The Palestinians themselves must face the challenge of reconciliation, and work to achieve a unified government under the leadership of President Abbas," Ban said, according to Reuters. "I call on all Arab leaders to unite and support this endeavour. We cannot rebuild Gaza without Palestinian unity."
The EU's external relations commissioner, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, indicated today that European nations would be reluctant to contribute to the rebuilding process in Gaza while Hamas remained in charge.
"For reconstruction you also need on the other side an interlocutor, so how will this be done? Is there a reconciliation process in the meantime ? What will be done? All that is open," she said in Jerusalem.
With the overseas media allowed into Gaza for the first time since before the Israeli operation began on 27 December, more details emerged of the extent of the damage caused to civilian buildings where the fighting was fiercest.
In Zeitoun, on the southern edge of Gaza City, a number of apartment blocks and homes were damaged by tank shells or machine gun fire, or completely destroyed. Among these was a flattened house identified as having belonged to the extended Samouni family, 48 of whom are believed to have been killed when their home was repeatedly shelled by Israeli forces.
Nearby was another home that had evidently been used as a base by Israeli troops. Inside it was littered with bullet casings and ration packs, and walls were daubed with slogans including "Arabs need to die" and "Arabs: 1948 to 2009".
Around the areas worst affected by the fighting, people were emerging from their homes for the first time to buy food, water and other supplies.
More bodies are still being pulled from destroyed buildings, and the death toll among those in Gaza is expected to rise further. A total of 22,000 buildings have been damaged or wrecked, according to the Palestinian statistics bureau.
Hamas today issued its first statement detailing its claimed losses during the Israeli offensive. A spokesman for the group said 48 of its fighters had been killed, a figure far below that claimed by Israel. The spokesman said Hamas had killed 80 Israeli troops but offered no evidence to support this. A total of 13 Israelis are known to have died – three civilians killed by Hamas rockets and 10 soldiers.
