Israel shuts Gaza settlements

GUSH KATIF, Gaza Strip – Israel declared a closed military zone in Jewish settlements in Gaza yesterday and sealed off a hotel where radical Jews have holed up to resist a planned August withdrawal from the occupied territory.

An army spokeswoman said the temporary closure was designed to stem an influx of ultranationalist foes of the pullout plan. The measure could also clear the way for raids to eject those trying to set up anti-withdrawal bastions such as the hotel.The military presence in the Gush Katif settlement bloc was beefed up after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said he had ordered “every necessary step” to stop far-right Jews from trying to derail his pullout plan through violence and road blockades.Sharon aims to evacuate all 21 Jewish settlements in Gaza and four of 120 in the West Bank, a plan US-led mediators hope will revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.However, he has been confronted with escalating protests by radical nationalists.In Gush Katif, the army cordoned off the Palm Beach Hotel, which has been converted into a barricaded redoubt against evacuation by dozens of religious nationalists, mainly from hardline Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.The hotel, a white stucco seaside complex that had stood vacant for years, has been renamed Maoz Hayam (“Stronghold-by-the-Sea”) by the ultra-right activists.The hotel perimeter was declared a closed military zone on Wednesday night after a day of clashes between teenage members of the banned anti-Arab Kach group and Palestinian villagers.A Palestinian youth was badly wounded.Soldiers then ousted dozens of Kach members from a house they had seized as an outpost in the Palestinian district of al-Mawasi adjoining Gush Katif, and arrested some of them for assaulting Palestinian residents.In Israel on Wednesday, police arrested 150 young rightists who blocked major highways during the evening rush hour as part of a strategy to bring the country to a halt before the pullout, which most Israelis have favoured in opinion polls.- Nampa-ReutersThe measure could also clear the way for raids to eject those trying to set up anti-withdrawal bastions such as the hotel.The military presence in the Gush Katif settlement bloc was beefed up after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said he had ordered “every necessary step” to stop far-right Jews from trying to derail his pullout plan through violence and road blockades.Sharon aims to evacuate all 21 Jewish settlements in Gaza and four of 120 in the West Bank, a plan US-led mediators hope will revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.However, he has been confronted with escalating protests by radical nationalists.In Gush Katif, the army cordoned off the Palm Beach Hotel, which has been converted into a barricaded redoubt against evacuation by dozens of religious nationalists, mainly from hardline Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.The hotel, a white stucco seaside complex that had stood vacant for years, has been renamed Maoz Hayam (“Stronghold-by-the-Sea”) by the ultra-right activists.The hotel perimeter was declared a closed military zone on Wednesday night after a day of clashes between teenage members of the banned anti-Arab Kach group and Palestinian villagers.A Palestinian youth was badly wounded.Soldiers then ousted dozens of Kach members from a house they had seized as an outpost in the Palestinian district of al-Mawasi adjoining Gush Katif, and arrested some of them for assaulting Palestinian residents.In Israel on Wednesday, police arrested 150 young rightists who blocked major highways during the evening rush hour as part of a strategy to bring the country to a halt before the pullout, which most Israelis have favoured in opinion polls.- Nampa-Reuters