Celebration in Gaza as truce holds

Gaza's streets, empty and quiet during a week of violence, were once again flooded with cars and people on Thursday as life returned to normal after Hamas and Israel agreed on a truce.

The contrast between the deserted roads of the past eight days, and the scenes of joyful chaos on Gaza City's thoroughfares on Thursday was striking.

"Move it, people! Go, go, go!" one frustrated Hamas policeman shouted in a futile attempt to diffuse a traffic jam, as a coffee vendor threaded his way between the cars.

The clogged streets would have been unthinkable 24 hours earlier, as Israeli missiles fell and Palestinian rockets were launched skywards.

His voice was barely audible over the sounds of honking cars and a nearby celebration organized by militants from Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

Participants waved the yellow flags of the Brigades and red flags of the PFLP as residents watched from nearby buildings.

The mood was palpably joyful, with strangers greeting each other with handshakes and smiles.

Outside the parliament building, thousands gathered for a celebration organized by Hamas, many waving the movement's trademark green flag.

But joy mingled with grief as many Palestinians walked by wrecked houses and government buildings, glimpsing shredded clothing, ruined furniture and cars half-buried in the rubble.

China on Thursday welcomed the Gaza cease-fire agreement and condemned the bus bombing on Wednesday in Tel Aviv, according to Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying.

China opposes all forms of terrorism and condemns any action that hurts innocent civilians, Hua said, adding that China urges relevant parties in both Israel and Palestine to stop using violence so as to avoid escalating tensions again in the region.

China also expressed appreciation for the mediation efforts from the international community, especially Egypt, the spokeswoman said.

"We hope relevant parties implement the cease-fire agreement earnestly so as to avoid more conflicts," Hua said.

The fundamental cause of the conflict lies in the long-stalled Palestine-Israel peace talks, she said.

Fighting ended late on Wednesday after the Hamas movement and Israel accepted a truce, although doubt abounded on both sides that this would be anything more than a pause in a deadly struggle between deeply distrustful adversaries.

"Today our unity materialized, Hamas and Fatah are one hand, one rifle and one rocket," senior Hamas leader Khalil Al-Hayya told several thousand people in the main square of Gaza.

Nabil Shaath, a senior Fatah figure, even shared the stage with leaders of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other factions.

The striking images of reconciliation broke a prevailing pattern of bitterness since Hamas gunmen drove Fatah from the Gaza Strip in 2007, politically reinforcing the territory's physical separation from the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Abbas was sidelined in the Gaza crisis, taking no part in the indirect negotiations in Cairo that produced the truce.

But he called Hamas' Gaza chief and prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, to "congratulate him on the victory and extend condolences to the families of martyrs", Haniyeh's office said.

Hamas rides high

Rifts remain between Hamas, an Islamist movement which rejects Israel's right to exist and espouses armed struggle, and Fatah, which has turned to non-violent methods in its quest for a Palestinian state in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Neither strategy seems close to achieving its goals, but Hamas' muscular stance resonates more on Gaza streets.

AFP-Reuters-Xinhua