Jan. 20 (Bloomberg) -- United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, visiting the Gaza Strip, said Israel used “excessive force” during three weeks of fighting in the Palestinian enclave. Israel continued its withdrawal from the territory.

“I have condemned, on the outbreak of the conflict, the excessive use of force by Israeli forces in Gaza,” said Ban, speaking at a press conference in Gaza today at a UN building that was damaged by Israeli fire during the conflict.

Israel began pulling its troops from Gaza after it declared a unilateral truce early Jan. 18, ending a military operation to stop Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups from shooting rockets into the south of the country.

Hamas later announced its own cease-fire, and no rockets have been fired into Israeli territory from Gaza since yesterday morning. Police said 849 projectiles were fired during the war.

“We are redeploying our forces and will proceed according to an assessment of the situation,” Israeli army spokeswoman Major Avital Leibovich said, responding to reports that Israel will try to withdraw completely from Gaza before today’s inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama.

In Gaza, where more than 1,300 people were killed according to Palestinian medical officials, witnesses said several areas looked like they were hit by an earthquake, with thousands of houses, mosques and other buildings reduced to rubble. Palestinian officials said at least 4,000 homes were destroyed.

Ban Visits Region

Ban became the first world leader to visit Gaza since the conflict began, after first meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Jerusalem.

The UN secretary general entered Gaza to assess the damage as rebuilding efforts get under way. Ban told reporters at the local headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency that he saw “heartbreaking scenes” of devastation, and said the UN would send a task force to help in reconstruction.

Ban said an incident in which Israeli fire damaged the UN relief compound was “unacceptable,” and he demanded a full investigation.

Egypt will open its Rafah border crossing with Gaza to allow humanitarian aid to be delivered, President Hosni Mubarak said yesterday. Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah pledged $1 billion for Gaza’s reconstruction.

Israeli Elections

With the end of the Gaza conflict, campaigning restarted in Israel for national elections on Feb. 10. An opinion poll published yesterday in the Haaretz newspaper showed former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party retained its lead.

If elections were held now, Likud has enough support to win 29 seats in the 120-member Knesset compared with 26 for Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni’s Kadima Party, which won the 2006 election, according to the poll. Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s Labor Party would win 14 seats, the poll said. The survey of 500 eligible voters and had a margin of error of 4.5 percentage points.

The cease-fire has had only a “mild” effect on the stock market, Joel Kirsch, a trader at Leader & Co. in Tel Aviv, said by telephone. The benchmark TA-25 Index of stocks gained 5.4 percent during the Gaza conflict, and climbed 0.3 percent as of 4:00 p.m. today. The shekel gained 0.9 percent against the dollar during the fighting.

The Israeli currency slipped 0.8 percent against the dollar to 3.8930 by 4:00 p.m. today in Tel Aviv, a drop analysts said was due to speculation the central bank may cut interest rates, rather than the Gaza conflict.

Rockets

The number of rockets fired into Israel had fallen to about 20 a day until yesterday, from more than 70 on the first day of the war. Hamas shot more than 700 rockets into southern Israel during the conflict. Four Israelis were killed by the rockets during the fighting, and nine soldiers died in combat.

Palestinian witnesses said a Gaza man was killed today by Israeli gunfire, the first fatality since the cease-fire was declared. The army said there were two instances today in northern Gaza in which Israeli troops returned fire after being shot at; it was unaware of any Palestinian casualties.

Israel will retaliate if Hamas resumes firing rockets, Livni said. Hamas said the Israeli operation hadn’t damaged its military capability or will to keep fighting.

“Our capacity to launch rockets hasn’t been diminished, and we will launch more rockets with God’s help,” said Abu Obeida, a spokesman for Hamas’s military wing, in a live televised address.

Risks for Hamas

“If Hamas fires rockets at Israel it will get hit again, just like they got hit now, and they know it,” Livni said in an interview on Israel Radio.

Aid groups have warned of a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, where about 1.5 million people live in an area of 360 square kilometers (144 square miles). Gaza emergency chief Mo’aweya Hassanein told reporters that rescue teams are still searching for survivors and bodies under the rubble of destroyed buildings and that 10 corpses were uncovered yesterday.

In Kuwait, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called for an urgent meeting to form a national unity government in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to include his Fatah movement and Hamas.

The new government should prepare for “simultaneous legislative and presidential elections,” Abbas said in a televised speech at the opening of the Arab Economic Summit.

Haniya Claims Victory

Hamas leader Ismail Haniya said that “the victory the Palestinian armed resistance achieved during the war on Gaza keeps the door open for national reconciliation” between Palestinians.

In a speech aired Jan. 18 on Gaza-based al-Aqsa Television, Haniya, former prime minister of a joint Hamas-Fatah Palestinian government, called for a dialogue.

Hamas, considered a terrorist group by the U.S., Israel and the European Union, refuses to recognize Israel or any peace agreements with the Jewish state. The group took full control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007, ending its partnership government with Abbas, who leads Fatah. In January 2006, Hamas won parliamentary elections, defeating Fatah.

To contact the reporters on this story: Calev Ben-David in Jerusalem at Cbendavid@bloomberg.net; Saud Abu Ramadan in Gaza City through the Jerusalem newsroomt .

Last Updated: January 20, 2009 10:15 EST