Israeli security forces clash with protesters in Gaza

NEVE DEKALIM, Gaza Strip – Israeli security forces poured into the largest Gaza settlement yesterday, clashing with crowds of protesters defying orders for Jews to leave the occupied territory by midnight or be removed.

Soldiers and police trying to take control of Neve Dekalim, a flashpoint of resistance against the first uprooting of Jewish settlements on land Palestinians want for a state, dragged away more than 50 youths, some kicking, punching and cursing. The scuffles, the most violent since the army issued a 48-hour eviction notice to Gaza settlers, were wreathed in smoke as hundreds of demonstrators trying to block moving vans entering the settlement burned piles of rubbish on the main street.”Where is the Jewish heart?” one youngster cried as four soldiers carried him away, each grabbing a limb.Some protesters pelted troops with paint-filled balloons, and one settler woman lay down in front of a bulldozer.A few people in the crowd were left with bloodied faces.Officials vowed to do whatever was necessary to clear the way for settlers leaving under Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s plan for “disengaging” from conflict with Palestinians.Anyone left after midnight deadline faces the forcible eviction.”We do not intend to blink,” said Brig.-Gen.Miri Regev, chief military spokeswoman.”If there is no choice, the police will arrest all of the lawbreakers.”Taking heed of the deadline, many settlers packed up trucks and shipping containers and joined an exodus that Israel says will mark the end of its 38-year occupation of the Gaza Strip.”All of Gush Katif is in mourning,” settler Gilad Meimon said as he waited in a vehicle loaded with family belongings to leave Gaza’s largest Jewish settlement bloc forever.But signs of defiance remained in Gaza enclaves, where hardline settlers vowed to stay put on land they believe was bequeathed to the Jewish people by God.Security officials fear that a hard core of ultranationalists, including some of the 5 000 who had infiltrated the settlements in recent weeks, could turn violent.The Neve Dekalim melee began after soldiers used a saw to cut through the main gate early yesterday, and hundreds of troops streamed in to push back protesters.Settlers set fire to tyres and several cars in one settlement, and a house was also set ablaze.In a televised address on Monday, Sharon, once the settlers’ champion but now reviled by them as a traitor, told Gaza’s 8 500 Jewish settlers he shared their pain but also understood the plight of 1.4 million Palestinians in the coastal strip.”We cannot hold on to Gaza forever,” he said.Eviction warnings to the 9 000 settlers in all 21 settlements in Gaza and four of 120 in the West Bank went into effect at midnight on Sunday.Sharon, whose plan is shown to have majority support in Israeli opinion polls, said Israel was prepared to make peace but he threatened Palestinians with Israel’s harshest response should they attack once the settlers had been evacuated.Palestinian militants claim the withdrawal as a victory and Israeli opponents decry it as a surrender to violence, while Washington sees it as a catalyst for renewed peacemaking.- ReutersThe scuffles, the most violent since the army issued a 48-hour eviction notice to Gaza settlers, were wreathed in smoke as hundreds of demonstrators trying to block moving vans entering the settlement burned piles of rubbish on the main street.”Where is the Jewish heart?” one youngster cried as four soldiers carried him away, each grabbing a limb.Some protesters pelted troops with paint-filled balloons, and one settler woman lay down in front of a bulldozer.A few people in the crowd were left with bloodied faces.Officials vowed to do whatever was necessary to clear the way for settlers leaving under Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s plan for “disengaging” from conflict with Palestinians.Anyone left after midnight deadline faces the forcible eviction.”We do not intend to blink,” said Brig.-Gen.Miri Regev, chief military spokeswoman.”If there is no choice, the police will arrest all of the lawbreakers.”Taking heed of the deadline, many settlers packed up trucks and shipping containers and joined an exodus that Israel says will mark the end of its 38-year occupation of the Gaza Strip.”All of Gush Katif is in mourning,” settler Gilad Meimon said as he waited in a vehicle loaded with family belongings to leave Gaza’s largest Jewish settlement bloc forever.But signs of defiance remained in Gaza enclaves, where hardline settlers vowed to stay put on land they believe was bequeathed to the Jewish people by God.Security officials fear that a hard core of ultranationalists, including some of the 5 000 who had infiltrated the settlements in recent weeks, could turn violent. The Neve Dekalim melee began after soldiers used a saw to cut through the main gate early yesterday, and hundreds of troops streamed in to push back protesters.Settlers set fire to tyres and several cars in one settlement, and a house was also set ablaze.In a televised address on Monday, Sharon, once the settlers’ champion but now reviled by them as a traitor, told Gaza’s 8 500 Jewish settlers he shared their pain but also understood the plight of 1.4 million Palestinians in the coastal strip.”We cannot hold on to Gaza forever,” he said.Eviction warnings to the 9 000 settlers in all 21 settlements in Gaza and four of 120 in the West Bank went into effect at midnight on Sunday.Sharon, whose plan is shown to have majority support in Israeli opinion polls, said Israel was prepared to make peace but he threatened Palestinians with Israel’s harshest response should they attack once the settlers had been evacuated.Palestinian militants claim the withdrawal as a victory and Israeli opponents decry it as a surrender to violence, while Washington sees it as a catalyst for renewed peacemaking.- Reuters