Israel targets bastions of resistance to Gaza pullout
By Steven ScheerKFAR DAROM, Gaza Strip (Reuters) - Israeli troops dragged weeping Jewish settlers from their homes in a hardline enclave on Thursday and surrounded bastions of resistance impeding Israel's pullout from Gaza after decades of occupation.
On the second day of a massive military operation, unarmed soldiers poured into the religious settlement of Kfar Darom on foot and encircled a synagogue filled with hundreds of young radicals, many crowded on the roof singing defiantly.
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A Jewish settler is carried from his home by Israeli soldiers as he is evacuated from the Neve Dekalim settlement in the Gush Katif bloc of Jewish settlements, southern Gaza Strip, August 18, 2005. (REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun) |
"We won't be moved from the Land of Israel," shrieked a bearded man wrapped in a prayer shawl who had tied himself to a metal staircase, arms outstretched, and had to be cut down and carried away by soldiers.
Troops also dragged away a soldier who refused to take part in the Kfar Darom operation -- the first such mutiny since the start of a forced evacuation of Gaza settlements under Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's "disengagement" plan.
Confrontation also loomed at the biggest Gaza enclave of Neve Dekalim, where most of the population was evacuated on Wednesday, some by force.
Still holding out were hundreds of radical youths who had slipped in during the past few weeks and were holed up in the Neve Dekalim synagogue. Negotiators worked to avoid clashes.
In another chaotic scene, Israelis forces encircled the beachfront settlement of Shirat Yam, where settlers reinforced by ultranationalist supporters blocked the entrance with burning tyres and piles of rubbish.
Resolving the standoffs could break the back of opposition to Israel's plan to end 38 years of occupation.
Despite pockets of resistance, the evacuation of 21 settlements in Gaza and four of 120 enclaves in the West Bank under Sharon's plan for reducing conflict with Palestinians was moving much faster than expected.
OUT BY TUESDAY
Israeli officials said the Gaza withdrawal would be completed by Tuesday, taking less than half as long as the most optimistic earlier predictions.
The removal of Gaza settlements, where 8,500 Jews lived isolated from 1.4 million Palestinians, marks the first uprooting of enclaves on land the Palestinians want for a state.
Palestinians have mostly welcomed the pullout but their anger was stoked on Wednesday when a Jewish settler shot dead four Palestinian labourers in a West Bank settlement in an apparent bid to sabotage the withdrawal. A four-hour mourning period was declared in West Bank cities on Thursday.
Palestinian militants fired two mortars at the Gadid settlement on Wednesday and a makeshift rocket near Neve Dekalim before dawn on Thursday following vows of revenge over the shooting, but caused no casualties or damage.
Ordinary Palestinians have watched the settlement evacuation with a mixture of glee and scepticism. They fear Sharon is trading Gaza for a tighter grip on the West Bank, where 240,000 Jews live surrounded by 2.4 million Palestinians.
"DRAMATIC MOMENT"
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in a New York Times interview the withdrawal was a "dramatic moment" in the Middle East, and urged Israel and the Palestinians to follow up with more steps toward the creation of a Palestinian state.
In a major show of force on Thursday, 2,000 soldiers and police, some carrying clubs in their backpacks, marched into Kfar Darom, a settlement of 490 inhabitants in southern Gaza.
Dozens of youngsters stood on the synagogue roof with razor wire and supplies, singing "The People of Israel Live" and waving orange flags, a staple of the anti-pullout protest.
Settlers allowed inside for morning services prayed for divine intervention. Ultranationalists believe Gaza and the West Bank were bequeathed to the Jewish people by God.
Troops had emptied six Gaza settlements by Thursday.
Minor injuries were reported, attesting to a tacit agreement on both sides to keep guns out of reach and avoid serious violence. Israel Radio said seven Gaza enclaves were to be evacuated on Thursday.
Officials said mostly secular residents of two of the four West Bank settlements slated for pullout had left by themselves.
Officials said 70 percent of Gaza's Jews had left or been evicted and evacuation could be over in a matter of days. More than 50,000 police and soldiers were deployed in Israel's largest military operation other than in wartime.
Polls show a majority of Israelis support the withdrawal. Israeli opponents call it a reward for Palestinian violence. The World Court calls the settlements illegal. Israel disputes this.
Political analysts say Sharon hopes to relieve international pressure for broader pullbacks from the West Bank.
Israel says the pullout 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.
(Additional reporting by Mark Heinrich in Neve Dekalim)
Copyright © 2008 Reuters
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