Israelis, Palestinians hand Obama first challenge

Israelis and Palestinians have already handed President Barack Obama his first international challenge...

In Gaza, the West Bank and Israel, people are waiting with cynicism, suspicion and hope to see how the new U.S. leader handles the issue...

Obama's inauguration became the lead story in Israeli media, which had been dominated by coverage of the Gaza offensive that began with a massive air bombardment on Dec. 27...

The front page of Yediot Ahronot, Israel's biggest daily newspaper, featured the smiling Obama and his wife over an English headline: "Good luck."

Seemingly timing its withdrawal to Tuesday's inauguration, Israel had already pulled most of its troops out of the ravaged Gaza Strip after a deadly three-week offensive aimed at halting years of militant rocket fire. But the crisis is not over, with reports of shooting along the Israel-Gaza border, and with Israeli soldiers poised to resume the assault if Gaza militants break a fragile cease-fire...

Gazans continue to pull their dead from the rubble. Across the region, rage at Israel has grown with a Palestinian death toll that Gaza health officials and the U.N. say has inched over 1,300, at least half of them civilians...

Thirteen Israelis were also killed during the offensive...

Palestinians largely see the U.S. as tilted unfairly toward Israel, and many remain pessimistic about the new administration...

"I'm sure that it's going to be the same. I never get any hope from the American side that they will give any peace for the Palestinians," said Mohammed Jabri, a physician in the West Bank town of Ramallah. The West Bank, led by President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, together with the Hamas-run Gaza is supposed to one day make up a Palestinian state...