Israel to pull out of Gaza by Obama inauguration

by Dave Keating | January 19, 2009 at 04:20 am

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Many analysts have pointed out that Israel likely timed its invasion of Gaza to occure before President-Elect Obama took office, assuming that the Bush Administration would look the other way while a new Obama administration might not. That scenario looks more likely now that Israel has announced that it will completely withdraw from Gaza before Barack Obama is sworn in as president.

Israel plans to pull all of its troops out of the Gaza Strip by the time President-elect Barack Obama is inaugurated Tuesday, but only if Hamas militants hold their fire, Israeli officials said.

Thousands of troops have left Gaza since Israel declared Saturday its intention to unilaterally halt fire after a devastating, three-week Israeli onslaught. Gaza's Hamas rulers ceased fire 12 hours later. Large contingents of Israeli soldiers have kept close to the border, prepared to re-enter the territory if violence re-ignites.

A swift troop withdrawal would reduce the likelihood of clashes between militants and Israeli forces that could rupture the truce.

By getting its soldiers out before the Obama inauguration, Israel hopes to pave the way for a smooth beginning with the Obama administration and spare the incoming president the trouble of having to deal with a burning problem in Gaza from his first day, the Israeli officials said.