Israel begins forced evacuation of settlers from the Gaza Strip

NEVE DEKALIM – Israeli troops began the forced evacuation yesterday of thousands of Jewish settlers gripped by rage and anguish over their expulsion from the Gaza Strip after nearly four decades of occupation.

Unarmed soldiers broke through burning barricades and marched door to door ordering people out of their homes in five settlements, while police grabbed protesters and pushed them onto waiting buses. Confrontation loomed as forces fanned out in the largest enclave, Neve Dekalim, where hundreds of ultranationalist youths who slipped into the community of red-roofed homes in recent weeks holed up in a synagogue for a possible last stand.”I don’t want to.I don’t want to,” one woman wept as four female soldiers, each grabbing a limb, carried her out of her home in Neve Dekalim.Many settlers believe Gaza is part of the Land of Israel bequeathed to the Jewish people by God.The operation, the culmination of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s plan for the first removal of settlements from land Palestinians want for a state, began after a midnight deadline for Gaza settlers to leave or face eviction.Sharon, once the settlers’ champion but now reviled by them as a traitor, voiced sympathy for the evacuees but appealed to them not to attack troops, but to blame him alone.”I am responsible for this.Attack me,” Sharon, who has billed his plan as “disengagement” from conflict with the Palestinians, said sombrely in a televised address.In Neve Dekalim, soldiers retreated from another house where residents started shrieking and smashing glassware.Some settlers scuffled with soldiers, and police said one woman was arrested for stabbing and lightly wounding a soldier.”Guys, why are you doing this?” cried a man named Yehuda who stood on his rooftop wearing his old military uniform in the Morag settlement after troops, accompanied by bulldozers, made their way past makeshift barricades and marched in.Smoke from tyre and rubbish fires billowed over the area.Dozens of other settlers and their supporters left without a fight, some even tearfully hugging soldiers before filing onto buses waiting to ferry them across the border into Israel.Seventeen-member squads have been training for the operation for weeks, practising scenarios that include violent resistance.Government eviction notices went into effect on Monday but settlers were given 48 hours to leave or be removed from all 21 settlements in Gaza and four of 120 enclaves in the West Bank.A Reuters photographer saw bulldozers move in and start demolishing buildings vacated by settlers in the northern Gaza settlement of Nissanit.Taking heed of warnings, many of Gaza’s 8 500 settlers packed up trucks ahead of the Wednesday deadline to quit the Gaza Strip, home to 1,4 million Palestinians, and joined an exodus ending Israel’s 38-year occupation of the coastal area.But the army estimated about half the settler population would remain in defiance.Polls show most Israelis back the pullout but rightist opponents call it a reward to Palestinian violence and a betrayal of Israel’s biblical birthright.A hard core of 5 000 pullout opponents have reached Gaza settlements in recent weeks despite a military closure.From the roof of buildings in the nearby Palestinian town of Khan Younis, residents watched gleefully as troops moved in.”I feel like I could fly, I am so happy,” said Abu Ahmed, a father of 10 whose house was demolished by Israeli troops during a five-year-old Palestinian uprising.Palestinians welcome withdrawal from any land captured in the 1967 Middle East war.They also fear Sharon devised the plan as a ruse to cement Israel’s hold on most of the West Bank, where 230 000 settlers and 2,4 million Palestinians live.Loosely coordinating with Israel, thousands of Palestinian security men have deployed near Gaza settlements to ward off possible militant attacks.Israeli officials raised the prospect the army could finish evacuation of settlers in as little of two days, speeding up an operation the military had said it hoped to complete by Sept.4.Four small Gaza settlements and two in the northern West Bank had already evacuated on their own ahead of the deadline.But signs of defiance remained.In Kfar Darom, a hardline religious stronghold, many settlers vowed to stay put.Officials say 66 percent of settler families have accepted compensation deals.Those who refused to go could lose a third of the money, ranging from US$150 000 to US$400 000 per family.The army intends to pull out the last troops from Gaza in early October, turn over the land to the Palestinian Authority.The World Court describes Israel’s settlements as illegal.Israel disputes this.Israel says the withdrawal will end its occupation of Gaza, but Palestinians say that can only happen once they gain full control of borders and airspace.Israel is reluctant to allow that for now, citing security reasons.- Nampa-ReutersConfrontation loomed as forces fanned out in the largest enclave, Neve Dekalim, where hundreds of ultranationalist youths who slipped into the community of red-roofed homes in recent weeks holed up in a synagogue for a possible last stand.”I don’t want to.I don’t want to,” one woman wept as four female soldiers, each grabbing a limb, carried her out of her home in Neve Dekalim.Many settlers believe Gaza is part of the Land of Israel bequeathed to the Jewish people by God.The operation, the culmination of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s plan for the first removal of settlements from land Palestinians want for a state, began after a midnight deadline for Gaza settlers to leave or face eviction.Sharon, once the settlers’ champion but now reviled by them as a traitor, voiced sympathy for the evacuees but appealed to them not to attack troops, but to blame him alone.”I am responsible for this.Attack me,” Sharon, who has billed his plan as “disengagement” from conflict with the Palestinians, said sombrely in a televised address.In Neve Dekalim, soldiers retreated from another house where residents started shrieking and smashing glassware.Some settlers scuffled with soldiers, and police said one woman was arrested for stabbing and lightly wounding a soldier.”Guys, why are you doing this?” cried a man named Yehuda who stood on his rooftop wearing his old military uniform in the Morag settlement after troops, accompanied by bulldozers, made their way past makeshift barricades and marched in.Smoke from tyre and rubbish fires billowed over the area.Dozens of other settlers and their supporters left without a fight, some even tearfully hugging soldiers before filing onto buses waiting to ferry them across the border into Israel.Seventeen-member squads have been training for the operation for weeks, practising scenarios that include violent resistance.Government eviction notices went into effect on Monday but settlers were given 48 hours to leave or be removed from all 21 settlements in Gaza and four of 120 enclaves in the West Bank.A Reuters photographer saw bulldozers move in and start demolishing buildings vacated by settlers in the northern Gaza settlement of Nissanit.Taking heed of warnings, many of Gaza’s 8 500 settlers packed up trucks ahead of the Wednesday deadline to quit the Gaza Strip, home to 1,4 million Palestinians, and joined an exodus ending Israel’s 38-year occupation of the coastal area.But the army estimated about half the settler population would remain in defiance.Polls show most Israelis back the pullout but rightist opponents call it a reward to Palestinian violence and a betrayal of Israel’s biblical birthright.A hard core of 5 000 pullout opponents have reached Gaza settlements in recent weeks despite a military closure.From the roof of buildings in the nearby Palestinian town of Khan Younis, residents watched gleefully as troops moved in.”I feel like I could fly, I am so happy,” said Abu Ahmed, a father of 10 whose house was demolished by Israeli troops during a five-year-old Palestinian uprising.Palestinians welcome withdrawal from any land captured in the 1967 Middle East war.They also fear Sharon devised the plan as a ruse to cement Israel’s hold on most of the West Bank, where 230 000 settlers and 2,4 million Palestinians live.Loosely coordinating with Israel, thousands of Palestinian security men have deployed near Gaza settlements to ward off possible militant attacks.Israeli officials raised the prospect the army could finish evacuation of settlers in as little of two days, speeding up an operation the military had said it hoped to complete by Sept.4.Four small Gaza settlements and two in the northern West Bank had already evacuated on their own ahead of the deadline.But signs of defiance remained.In Kfar Darom, a hardline religious stronghold, many settlers vowed to stay put.Officials say 66 percent of settler families have accepted compensation deals.Those who refused to go could lose a third of the money, ranging from US$150 000 to US$400 000 per family.The army intends to pull out the last troops from Gaza in early October, turn over the land to the Palestinian Authority.The World Court describes Israel’s settlements as illegal.Israel disputes this.Israel says the withdrawal will end its occupation of Gaza, but Palestinians say that can only happen once they gain full control of borders and airspace.Israel is reluctant to allow that for now, citing security reasons.- Nampa-Reuters