A spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told Xinhua Wednesday that it has completed troops pullout from the Gaza Strip.

The last Israeli soldier left the Gaza Strip this morning and Israeli army are redeploying alongside the Gaza Strip of Israeli side, said the spokesman.

Meanwhile, an Israeli army spokesman, also told Israel Radio that the Israeli army had completed its redeployment into the Gaza Strip, and finalized its withdrawal from the enclave.

The spokesman told the radio "the last Israeli soldier had withdrawn from the Gaza Strip on Wednesday morning, and the Israeli army forces deployed outside the Gaza Strip areas, but they are still ready for any emergency."

Palestinian security sources confirmed Wednesday that the last Israeli soldier withdrew from the Gaza Strip after its large-scale military offensive on the strip that lasted for 22 days and ended on Jan. 18.

The sources, closed to Hamas interior ministry, said that the Israeli army had finalized its withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and kept its forces stationed on the border between Israel and the blockaded enclave.

On Dec. 27, 2008, Israel began its "Cast Lead" military operation on the Gaza Strip with intensive airstrikes on Hamas- ruled security and government installations and buildings.

On Jan. 4, just nine days after the intensive airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, Israel had decided to enlarge its offensive and implement a second stage of the offensive, which sending ground forces into the Gaza Strip.

During the offensive, over 1,300 Palestinians were killed and some 5,500 others wounded. More than 4,000 houses, mosques and government buildings were leveled to the ground while 20,000 houses were damaged.

On Jan. 18, both Israel and Gaza militant groups had declared a unilateral ceasefire, where Israel stopped its offensive but kept its troops into the territory.

(Xinhua News Agency January 21, 2009)