GAZA/OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: A cease-fire agreement between Israel and the Palestinians aimed at ending their seven-week conflict in Gaza went into effect Tuesday, and joyous Palestinians streamed into the streets of the battered enclave to celebrate.

No clear victor emerged from what had become a war of attrition between the Middle East’s most powerful armed forces and the dominant Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip, but Palestinian groups described the cease-fire as a victory.

Having exacted a heavy toll in Palestinian lives and property, Israel said it had dealt a strong blow to Hamas, killing several of its military leaders and destroying the group’s cross-border infiltration tunnels. But Israel also faced persistent rocket fire for nearly two months, which caused an exodus from some border communities and became part of daily life in its commercial heartlands.