By Husam Hamdan, Hua Chunyu

Israel declared a unilateral ceasefire after 22 days of offensive against the Gaza Strip on Saturday night. As both sides, Israel and Hamas, boasted their victory, Palestinian observers say that the only loser in this war is the Palestinian civilians.

Palestinian medical members inspect the damage of the Al Quds hospital, which belongs to the Palestinian Red Crescent, in Gaza City, Jan. 17, 2009. The hospital was bombed in Israeli military operations on Jan. 15. [Wissam Nassar/Xinhua]

At Saturday night's press conference, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert described the Israeli military operation as "successful", and the army has achieved all its goals.

Before announcing the ceasefire, the Israeli government signed an agreement with the United States, which Israel said will guarantee the stop of weapon smuggling to Hamas.

In addition, Olmert mentioned Saturday night that the Jewish state has received different European countries' offer to help solve the weapon smuggling issue.

The agreement, from the Palestinians point of view, "will bringabout a real siege on Gaza," according to the spokesman of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) Yasser Abed Rabbo's statement on Saturday.

On the other hand, Hamas leader Osama Hamdan said on Saturday that if Israel makes this decision from one side, "We will stay on the ground, and will continue our resistance against the Israeli occupation."

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Fatah movement, Hamas' political rival, considered the decision of Israel to halt military actions unilaterally as a kind of "trick".

The spokesman of Fatah Fahmi al-Za'arir told Xinhua that "We're seeking a ceasefire and Israel's withdrawal, and if Israeli army still stays in Gaza, the situation will be more dangerous than it was during the 22-day war."

He said "Israeli army's continuous presence in Gaza will allow it to resume fighting at every minute."

Minutes after Olmert declared the unilateral ceasefire in Gaza, Islamic Hamas movement's armed wing al-Qassam Brigades sent a statement to reporters, saying they will "continue resistance as long as the occupation of Gaza continues and the blockade is imposed."

Palestinian analysts summarized the loss in the war for the Israeli side as: ten Israeli soldiers and three Israeli civilians were killed; dozens of Israeli soldiers and more than 100 Israeli civilians were injured; Israeli image were badly affected by awful pictures and TV footage broadcasted to all over the world.

For the Palestinian side, more than 1,200 Palestinians were killed, and more than 5,000 wounded; numerous buildings either related to Hamas or civilians were destroyed, which made tens of thousands homeless; two senior Hamas leaders and an unknown number of Hamas fighters were killed.

However, despite the huge number of Palestinian casualties, analysts believed that Hamas did not lose many of its fighters.

Nabhan Khrieshi, a Palestinian independent journalist believed Hamas has won the war, because "it is still on the ground."

He said "Israeli army's goal is to weaken Hamas, but on the contrary, the war has boosted Hamas' popularity in the Arab world unprecedented."

Khrieshi's opinion was shared with other Palestinian observers, who believed that Hamas entered this war with nothing to lose.

"Hamas doesn't care about the civilian casualties, because it considered gaining political position in the Arab world more important than a victory on the battlefield," Samih Shabib, a Palestinian political analyst told Xinhua, adding that Hamas "is seeking international recognition as the ruler in Gaza."

Analysts also warned that "If the Palestinians couldn't achieve a national unity after this war, all the Palestinians will be losers."

(Xinhua News Agency January 19, 2009)