Israel pulled the last of its ground forces out of the Gaza Strip on Tuesday ahead of an Egyptian-brokered 72-hour ceasefire with Hamas that went into effect at 8 a.m. local time (0500 UTC).

However, Israel is maintaining its military presence outside of the Palestinian enclave so it can respond to any attack.

Troops and tanks will be "redeployed in defensive positions outside the Gaza Strip and we will maintain those defensive positions," Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Lerner said.

The Israeli military says it has achieved its main goal of destroying tunnels used by Palestinian militants for cross-border attacks. The offensive on the Gaza Strip began on July 8 with airstrikes in response to rocket fire into Israel from Gaza militants. The IDF expanded the operation to include a ground assault on July 17.

A number of previous truces have held only for a matter of hours, and both sides exchanged attacks right up to the time Tuesday's truce took effect.

Taking stock

Palestinians trapped by the fighting have been using the lull to stock up on food and inspect their homes and property.

Palestinian medics say 1,867 Palestians, most of them civilians, have been killed in four weeks of Israeli operations. They say that toll includes 429 children. Israel blames the high civilian toll on Hamas, saying the militant group often operated from heavily populated areas.

Israel lost 64 soldiers, two civilians and a Thai national during the conflict. Palestinian militants fired more than 3,000 rockets towards Israel in the past month, severely restricting freedom of movement in the country.

Many of the rockets were shot down by Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system.

The war has also had heavy economic costs for both sides, with Gaza likely to have to spend $6 billion (4.48 billion euros) to rebuild its devastated infrastructure. Israel has also lost hundreds of millions of dollars in tourism and other industries.

Thorny path to peace

The temporary truce has been welcomed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah party governs the Israeli-occupied West Bank, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the US government.

However, securing a lasting peace is likely to be a difficult process, as the two sides remain far apart on key issues.

Hamas demands an end to the Israeli-Egyptian blockade on Gaza and the release of prisoners, including those arrested by Israel in a June crackdown in the West Bank after three Jewish seminary students were kidnapped and murdered there.

Israel has always rejected those demands. And with the administration in Cairo also viewing Hamas as a security threat, the Palestinian side may not easily accept Egypt as a neutral mediator for a peace deal.

Meanwhile, in London, a British minister, Sayeeda Warsi, resigned on Tuesday, saying she could not support British government policy on the Gaza conflict. Prime Minister David Cameron has come under criticism from the opposition for failing to describe Israel's offensive on Gaza as disproportionate.

tj/msh (Reuters, AFP, dpa)