Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Sunday that his nation will pull troops out of the Gaza Strip once a stable truce is guaranteed.

"We intend to leave Gaza as soon as possible once we make sure that Israel's south is safe. We did not set out to take Gaza, and we have no desire to stay in it," he told visiting European leaders in the evening at his official residence.

He thanked the guests, who came from a summit on the Gaza situation in Egypt, for their support for Israel's security and their efforts to help prevent arms smuggling into the Palestinian enclave, and pledges cooperation to bring peace to the volatile land.

The remarks came shortly after the Israeli army began withdrawing part of its troops from Gaza in what it said was an overall redeployment. Yet it is still unknown how many troops Israel will pull out at the current stage and when it will finish a complete withdrawal.

The partial withdraw followed an announcement from Hamas and other Gazan militant groups that they would stage a one-week ceasefire with Israel, during which Israel must withdraw its troops.

However, officials of the Jewish state, which has put on a unilateral truce since 2:00 AM on Sunday (24:00 GMT, Saturday), rebuffed calls for a timetable of withdrawal, stressing that Israel will consider the issue only after it is sure that the ceasefire will hold.

Should a respite be in place, it would bring a pause to the three weeks of bloodshed across the Israel-Gaza border, and pave the way for a possible lasting truce deal between the Jewish state and the Islamist movement in light of the intensifying international mediation efforts.

More than 1,300 Gazans have been killed and over 5,500 wounded in Israel's massive onslaught, dubbed Operation Cast Lead, and 13 Israelis have also died.