Hamas claims victory as Israeli troops leave Gaza

HAMAS claimed victory after Israeli troops pulled out of the Gaza Strip yesterday, following days of fighting that killed more than 100 Palestinians.

The Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, said the five-day operation, in which two Israeli soldiers were killed, was over. but Israel would take further action in the Gaza Strip until cross-border rocket fire was reduced.

The withdrawal was in time for a two-day visit, beginning today, by the US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice.

"The blood of Gaza's children has achieved victory and occupation will be removed," Hamas's Gaza leader, Ismail Haniyeh, said in a statement.

Hamas, which seized power in the Gaza Strip from the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction in June, vowed to continue firing rockets into Israel.

It launched one into the southern city of Ashkelon shortly after the troops withdrew, wounding one person.

"We are not willing to show tolerance, period. We will respond," Mr Olmert said. However, a senior Israeli official said there would be a "two-day interval" for Ms Rice's visit.