Israel pulled its ground forces out of the Gaza Strip on Tuesday and started a 72-hour cease-fire with Hamas mediated by Egypt as a first step toward negotiations on a more enduring end to the month-old war.

Minutes before the truce began at 8 a.m., Hamas launched a salvo of rockets, calling them revenge for Israel's "massacres." Israel's anti-missile system shot down one rocket over Jerusalem, police said. Another hit a house in a town near Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank. There were no casualties.

Israeli armor and infantry withdrew from the Gaza Strip ahead of the truce, with a military spokesman saying their main goal of destroying cross-border infiltration tunnels had been completed. "Mission accomplished," the military tweeted.