Tel Aviv: Israel's leaders voted late on Saturday to halt an offensive that has killed nearly 1,200 people, turned the streets and neighborhoods of the Gaza Strip into battlegrounds and dealt a stinging blow to the Islamic militants of Hamas.
Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert said in a televised address that Israel's "goals have been achieved, and even more"
Fighting will stop at 2 a.m. local time (midnight GMT) but Israel will keep troops on the ground for the time being, Olmert said.
But Hamas leaders have repeated that it will not respect any cease-fire as long as Israel remains inside Gaza.
More than 1,100 Palestinians have been killed in the three weeks of violence, according to Palestinian and U.N. officials. Thirteen Israelis have also died.
Hamas said on Saturday that Israel's declaration of a unilateral ceasefire in the Gaza Strip does not put an end to the group's "resistance".
"A unilateral ceasefire does not mean ending the (Israeli) aggression and ending the siege. These constitute acts of war and so this will not mean an end to resistance," Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum told Reuters.
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