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Liberman's resignation adds to Israel's instability

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are pleased that Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman has stepped down, but the full repercussions of his resignation have yet to be seen.
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GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Palestinians celebrated the sudden resignation Nov. 14 of hawkish Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, launching spontaneous marches in the Gaza Strip. A senior Hamas official said Liberman's departure could speed up efforts to reach a long-term truce between Hamas and Israel through Egyptian, Qatari and UN mediation.

Liberman resigned a day after Israel and Palestinian armed factions reached a cease-fire agreement, even as an especially fierce and deadly cross-border exchange was taking place, with Palestinian rockets and mortar shells bombarding southern Israel, and Israeli airstrikes punishing Gaza. That exchange followed one on Nov. 11, when Hamas detected a special Israeli force trying to carry out a secret mission in eastern Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip.

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