Rafah, Gaza Strip ? Israeli troops and tanks began pulling out of the Rafah refugee camp at daybreak today, residents said, after a three-day sweep that left 39 Palestinians dead and drew international criticism.

The Israeli move came hours after Palestinian uprising leader Marwan Barghouti, widely seen as a potential successor to Yasser Arafat, was convicted of ordering shootings that killed four Israelis and a Greek monk and supplying funds and arms for other attacks.

The Tel Aviv District Court on Thursday convicted the 44-year-old Barghouti of five counts of murder, one count of attempted murder and one count of membership in a terrorist group. The prosecution asked for five consecutive life terms. Sentencing is set for June 6.

Israeli military sources confirmed soldiers were “redeploying” after the operation in the camp, but they said that in principle, the search for weapons-smuggling tunnels under the border would continue.

Palestinians said most of the Israeli tanks had left the Tel Sultan neighborhood, the focus of the operation, and others were pulling out of the Brazil section next to the Gaza-Egypt border.

As recently as Wednesday, Israeli leaders insisted the operation in the Rafah refugee camp in southern Gaza would continue.

But international condemnation surged after a deadly tank attack Wednesday that killed eight Palestinian protesters, most of them children.

Before this morning’s pullout, the army had moved into five neighborhoods in the camp, which is home to about 90,000 Palestinians.