Analysts say Israel's second goal -- the ending of weapons smuggling into Gaza -- will require hard diplomacy and sustained international cooperation in order to be accomplished.
Reports say Israel's decision to call a unilateral ceasefire in its war on Hamas came about after it won pledges from Washington and Cairo to help prevent arms smuggling into the Gaza Strip -- a task in which Europe has also pledged to help.
But Egypt denied the consensus. Egyptian Foreign Minister AhmedAbul Gheit said Cairo was "not bound" by a U.S.-Israeli agreement to stop arms smuggling to Hamas-ruled Gaza.
Mohammad Subeih, the Arab League (AL) assistant secretary-general for Palestinian affairs, said Sunday that the Israelis were looking for a way out of the conflict as the general election approached.
Subeih said Israel did not achieve a military victory, noting that the offensive did not weaken Palestinian resistance in Gaza.
Some suggested that a third goal of the offensive was an effort by Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni to boost support for her Kadima party ahead of the Feb. 10 election.
The latest polls indicated, however, that Israel's political landscape did not make dramatic changes following the Gaza offensive.
Surveys on Sunday showed that former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party is still expected to take a leading 31 seats in parliament, while Livni's ruling centrist Kadima party was forecast to capture between 23 and 26. Defense Minister Ehud Barak's Labor party was expected to win about 15 of the 120 seats.
The Israeli offensive, which began Dec. 27, killed more than 1,240 Palestinians and wounded more than 5,300 others. Thirteen Israelis -- four killed by rockets fired from Gaza and nine soldiers killed in the ground battle -- died in the violence.
Countries around the world had called for an immediate end to the military attack and urged all parties concerned to return to the negotiation table to seek a lasting and just settlement to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
(Xinhua News Agency January 20, 2009)