Hamas legislator on ceasefire, Rafah destruction

Описание: (19 Jan 2009)
Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip
1. Wide of building
2. Mosque
3. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Mushir al-Masri, Hamas legislator:
"The stance of the resistance, namely the ceasefire and giving the Zionist enemy a few days' deadline to fully withdraw from Gaza, comes from a position of strength, and the moment of victory witnessed by the resistance vis-�-vis the failure of the Zionist enemy to achieve its objectives."
4. Wide of people gathered outside building
5. Close of al-Masri entering building
Rafah, southern Gaza Strip
6. Wide of destruction caused by Israeli airstrikes, bombing suspected smuggling tunnels
7. Rubble littering ground, Egyptian guard post in distance
8. Various of devastation caused to area
9. Various of people trying to clear rubble
10. Man pushing damaged tin roof off building
11. Wide of Egyptian troops standing behind sacks piled up along Gaza-Egyptian border
12. Child stepping over huge concrete slabs littering ground
13. Elderly woman holding walking stick, walking slowly over ground covered in debris
STORYLINE:
A Hamas legislator said on Monday that Hamas had called its ceasefire with Israel from "a position of strength," the day after the group declared a week-long parallel truce.
As Gazans assessed the human and infrastructure costs of Israel's punishing three-week offensive on the Gaza Strip, Israeli officials said on Monday that their troops would leave the coastal territory before United States President-elect Barack Obama was inaugurated on Tuesday.
Hamas legislator Mushir al-Masri, speaking in the battered northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya on Monday, said that "The stance of the resistance, namely the ceasefire and giving the Zionist enemy a few days' deadline to fully withdraw from Gaza, comes from a position of strength, and the moment of victory witnessed by the resistance vis-�-vis the failure of the Zionist enemy to achieve its objectives."
His remarks echo those of Hamas Prime Minister in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh, who released a statement broadcast on Al Jazeera Arabic news channel on Sunday, in which he praised the resistance factions for observing the ceasefire, enabling the Israeli army to withdraw, and said it was a "victory" for all Palestinians.
On Monday, residents in the southern Gaza town of Rafah ventured out to inspect the destruction left behind by three weeks of devastating airstrikes, after Israeli warplanes pounded dozens of suspected smuggling tunnels.
Thousands of Gazans have been made homeless by the conflict, forced to flee as Israeli warplanes shelled their homes.
In an initial indication of damage, Gaza municipal officials said a first count showed some 20-thousand residential and government buildings were severely damaged and another 4-thousand destroyed.
Some 50 of the UN's 220 schools, clinics and warehouses were battered in shelling and crossfire.
Britain on Sunday announced it was tripling its aid to Gaza, with an additional 29 million US dollars, to go towards rebuilding damaged homes and helping those injured in the violence.
At least 1,259 Palestinians were killed in Israel's air and ground onslaught, more than half of them civilians, and amongst them scores of children, according to the United Nations, Gaza health officials and rights groups.

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