Israel launches Gaza Strip pullout

NEVE DEKALIM, Gaza Strip – Defiant Jewish settlers blocked the gates of Gaza’s most hardline settlements yesterday, preventing soldiers from delivering 48-hour eviction notices as Israel began its pullout from the coastal territory.

Troops were deterred by protesters in some enclaves but walked door-to-door in others, telling settlers to leave by tomorrow or face forcible eviction under Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s plan to end Israel’s 38-year occupation of Gaza. In the largest Gaza settlement, Neve Dekalim, settlers used makeshift barricades and their bodies to impede an operation that paves the way for Israel’s first uprooting of settlements on land Palestinians want for a state.Bearded men stood at the main entrance praying for divine intervention.Settlers with loudspeakers urged soldiers to refuse orders.Protesters scuffled briefly with police, pelted them with paint-filled balloons and set fire to tyres.Sharon blamed the confrontations on youths who had slipped into the Gaza settlements, and vowed to press ahead.”We will not tolerate violence and incitement from those who would force their opinions upon us,” he was quoted as telling his cabinet.In the Morag enclave, a woman with a toddler in her arms pleaded tearfully with an army officer: “Don’t do this to us.”Said Morag settler Chaim Gross: “A lot of blood was spilled on this holy land.It was presented to Abraham for the Jews and we are not going to leave it.”Eviction warnings to 9 000 settlers in all 21 settlements in Gaza and four of 120 in the West Bank went into effect at midnight on Sunday under Sharon’s plan to “disengage” from conflict with the Palestinians.The pullout, claimed by Palestinian militants as a victory and decried by Israeli opponents as a surrender to violence, is seen by Washington as a catalyst for renewed peacemaking.Israel sealed off access to Gaza settlements at midnight.Under a rare agreement, 7 500 Palestinian security men in Gaza moved into position on the outskirts of the fortified settlements to ward off possible militant attacks.Early yesterday one makeshift rocket slammed into Neve Dekalim and another hit Gadid, causing no casualties.Palestinian militants have largely observed a truce agreed by President Mahmoud Abbas and Israel in February.Many of Gaza’s 8 500 settlers streamed out before Israel set the pullout in motion yesterday, but more than half remained.They were reinforced by 5 000 ultranationalists who had infiltrated in recent days, raising fears of violence.Troops fanned out in some settlements to deliver eviction notices.In Morag, soldiers knocked on the door and entered a house with a sign that read: “We’re not moving from here.”In an apparent bid to avoid early confrontations, the army said it had decided not to go into five of the settlements, widely seen as bastions of resistance, until evacuation day after settlers said the soldiers would not be welcome.- Nampa-ReutersIn the largest Gaza settlement, Neve Dekalim, settlers used makeshift barricades and their bodies to impede an operation that paves the way for Israel’s first uprooting of settlements on land Palestinians want for a state.Bearded men stood at the main entrance praying for divine intervention.Settlers with loudspeakers urged soldiers to refuse orders.Protesters scuffled briefly with police, pelted them with paint-filled balloons and set fire to tyres.Sharon blamed the confrontations on youths who had slipped into the Gaza settlements, and vowed to press ahead.”We will not tolerate violence and incitement from those who would force their opinions upon us,” he was quoted as telling his cabinet.In the Morag enclave, a woman with a toddler in her arms pleaded tearfully with an army officer: “Don’t do this to us.”Said Morag settler Chaim Gross: “A lot of blood was spilled on this holy land.It was presented to Abraham for the Jews and we are not going to leave it.”Eviction warnings to 9 000 settlers in all 21 settlements in Gaza and four of 120 in the West Bank went into effect at midnight on Sunday under Sharon’s plan to “disengage” from conflict with the Palestinians.The pullout, claimed by Palestinian militants as a victory and decried by Israeli opponents as a surrender to violence, is seen by Washington as a catalyst for renewed peacemaking.Israel sealed off access to Gaza settlements at midnight.Under a rare agreement, 7 500 Palestinian security men in Gaza moved into position on the outskirts of the fortified settlements to ward off possible militant attacks.Early yesterday one makeshift rocket slammed into Neve Dekalim and another hit Gadid, causing no casualties.Palestinian militants have largely observed a truce agreed by President Mahmoud Abbas and Israel in February.Many of Gaza’s 8 500 settlers streamed out before Israel set the pullout in motion yesterday, but more than half remained.They were reinforced by 5 000 ultranationalists who had infiltrated in recent days, raising fears of violence.Troops fanned out in some settlements to deliver eviction notices.In Morag, soldiers knocked on the door and entered a house with a sign that read: “We’re not moving from here.”In an apparent bid to avoid early confrontations, the army said it had decided not to go into five of the settlements, widely seen as bastions of resistance, until evacuation day after settlers said the soldiers would not be welcome.- Nampa-Reuters