GAZA, June 30 (IslamOnline.net) - Recalling the failure of similar earlier initiatives to end the daily Israeli aggressions, Palestinian people responded to the truce declared by Palestinian factions on Sunday, June 29, with mixed feelings.

"Calling a truce in the region is a positive step only if it is put into action," Suheil Abdel-Aal, a local inhabitant of the borderline city of Rafah, told IslamOnline.net on Monday, June 30.

Aal, whose house had been razed to ground in a fresh Israeli incursion into the town, expected that the Israeli government would not "show enough commitment to the one-sided truce" as was the case in similar earlier initiatives.

"We have suffered a lot, has it not been ripe now for spelling out an end to this suffering?," Mohamed Abdel-Wahab, 40, lamented, with a palpable tone of sadness.

Israeli first response to the truce is that it would ignore it, with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's spokesman saying, "We do not give any value to this announcement."

Wahab said that peace-sponsoring countries should "exercise pressure on the Jewish state to carry out its commitments and secure Palestinians' rights."

In Gaza, the densely-populated town, many agreed if applied the declared truce would not "drag on for long", but others hinged hope on the initiative to put an end to daily aggressions by Israeli occupation forces, including house demolitions, land razzings and detention campaigns.

"We hope the Israeli government would honor the truce and halt all of its aggressions and destruction of our property," said Akram Falluji, owner of a beverage factory.

Mingled with his hopes is a fear the move would not trigger a change on the ground.

Falluji's beverage factory was destroyed by occupation forces, inflicting him with a 200,000 dollars loss.

For Randa Hammas, a worker in the private sector, the truce is "an opportunity for Hamas and other Palestinian factions to take breath and reorder their internal affairs," after the latest Israeli wave of assassinations.

Israeli army carried out several raids of Palestinian groups over the last two weeks, leaving a number of their members and leaders dead and others injured.

The factions were also facing growing calls by the U.S. to have them dismantled.

'Ink On Paper'

Many of the inhabitants interviewed by IslamOnline.net said the government of Sharon is the main obstacle to setting the truce on motion.

"Israel only uses these initiatives to win over the world public opinion, but Sharon's government has destroyed them with its rash behavior," said Himdan Dabous, whose son had been shot dead by Israeli gunfire.

Like many Palestinians, Dabous dreams of a safe life, complaining that the Israeli government is still far away from making such dream a reality.

"The truce is a conspiracy to end to the Palestinian Intifada against Israeli occupation, given the current developments on the international scene after the fall of Baghdad," he added.

"The truce is just an ink on paper, as the Israeli government would not comply with it," said the wife of Wael Bassouni, whose house in Beit Hanoun was flattened by Israeli bulldozers.

"Before they set down for talks with Israel, they should have come here," she added, pointing to the debris of her house.

"I don’t care about these initiatives, what I do care about is to live in peace and security and restore my property demolished by Israeli forces," said Marwan Abdel-Dayem, a farm owner.

"This truce could be a step on the right direction to remove suffering of Palestinians," Abdel-Dayem said.

"But would Israel make good on its commitments, this is the question."

The truce, declared by Hamas and Islamic Jihad, made three conditions Israel should carry out for it to succeed.

"There should be an immediate end to all forms of aggressions against Palestinians, including house demolitions, land razzings, assassinations, detentions and deportations," the factions’ statement said.

"All of the Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails should be released, and the Jewish state should abandon any tampering with Islamic and Christian sacred places in general and Haram al-Shariff in particular".