Though both sides continued fighting right up until the official start of the Gaza ceasefire, which took effect at 7:00 PM Eastern, calm has prevailed in the first few hours, neither side his reportedly attacked the other, and there is hope, however fleeting, that the fighting in the Gaza Strip may finally be over.

The Israeli government has touted its three week war which killed 1,100, the vast majority of which were civilians, as a great success, with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert claiming all of the military’s goals had been met (though its only stated goal was stopping the rocket attacks, which continued right up until the Israeli attacks stopped).

A volley of rockets has been fired into southern Israel from Gaza, hours after a unilateral Israeli ceasefire began.

At least four out of five rockets landed near the town of Sderot, the Israeli military said. There were no reports of casualties or damage.

It puts a strain on the ceasefire, which came into effect at 0200 (0000 GMT) after three weeks of fighting.

Shortly before the rockets fell, Israeli troops briefly exchanged fire with Hamas militants in the north of the Gaza Strip after coming under attack, Israeli military officials said.

International leaders are due in Egypt on Sunday for a summit aimed at shoring up the ceasefire.

Heads of state from across Europe will join Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas and UN chief Ban Ki-moon at Sharm El-Shiekh to give their backing to a permanent peace.

We all should pray that this will hod and both sides truly want to end this thing once and for all.