Both Israel and the Palestinians claimed victory in the November war, despite the huge discrepancy in fatalities and destruction caused by it. The conflict resulted in the deaths of 153 Palestinians, 103 of them civilians, according to the United Nations preliminary investigation, while only six Israelis were killed. However, as Adam Shaltz points out, “victory in war is not measured solely in terms of body counts.”

The several factions in Gaza which, during the fighting, seemed to have formed a single and unified Palestinian (para)miliary alliance, say they not only “put up a good fight” against Israel’s huge military arsenal, but also “forced” Israeli into a cease-fire on conditions much more favorable to them.

Besides the easing of restrictions on movement, Israel, according to the conditions of the cease-fire, must also cease all targeted assassinations of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Factions in Gaza claim this is indicative of the failure of the Israeli army operation.

While Israel’s chief goal was to deter the Palestinian resistance by killing one of its main military figures, Israel was itself deterred by the Palestinian response, according to Abu Hassan, military spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) in Gaza, a coalition of armed factions made up mainly of ex-Fatah fighters opposed to negotiations.