JOYOUS Gazans flooded into empty Jewish settlements yesterday and Palestinians clambered over walls to the Egyptian side to join a chaotic celebration of the end of 38 years of Israeli military rule over the Gaza Strip.

Thousands of triumphant Palestinians poured into abandoned Jewish settlements early today, setting buildings on fire, ripping out window frames and shooting in the air.

The evacuation of settlers from the Gaza Strip has been completed, and only one family remains with the permission of the military, a police official said.

Kristen Stevens, Gadid

Israeli forces today cleared out one of the last strongholds of opposition to the Gaza pullout and began demolishing homes in an empty settlement, avoiding a repeat of previous day’s violence in which youths pelted soldiers with acid, oil and sand.

Israeli troops pushed through a barricade of flaming cars and entered this small settlement of Gadid at sunrise today, a day after youths holed up on a synagogue rooftop pelted soldiers with acid, oil and sand in the most violent protest against Israel’s Gaza pullout.

Israeli forces stormed two synagogues in the Gaza Strip where hundreds of settlers had holed up, hoping to clear the last major bastions of resistance to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s plan to end Israel’s 38-year occupation of the Gaza Strip.

Thousands of Israeli forces began storming the main synagogue of the Jewish settlement Neve Dekalim today, one of the last bastions of resistance to the Gaza pullout.

Hundreds of Gaza pullout opponents barricaded themselves behind rolls of barbed wire in the synagogue of the hard-line Jewish settlement of Kfar Darom today, as security forces dragged screaming residents out of nearby homes and a religious school.

Hundreds of Gaza pullout opponents barricaded themselves behind rolls of barbed wire in the synagogue of the hard-line Jewish settlement Kfar Darom today, as security forces surrounded the building on the second day of the forcible removal of settlers.

In lightning sweeps, Israeli troops cleared out Gaza settlements one after the other, shedding tears alongside settlers.

Amy Teibel, Gaza Strip

Thousands of Israeli troops dragged sobbing Jewish settlers out of homes, synagogues and even a nursery school today and hauled them onto buses in a massive evacuation, fulfilling Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s promise to withdraw from the Gaza Strip after a 38-year occupation.

The forcible evacuation of Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip has begun, the army said today.

Hundreds of residents in Israel’s largest Gaza settlement prepared to leave their homes tonight, leaving behind not only years of memories, but thousands of people vowing to stay until troops force them out.

Israeli security forces clashed with hundreds of opponents of Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip today, arresting at least 50 people in the roughest confrontation between troops and settlers since the start of the operation.

Israeli police cut through the main gate of the Gaza Strip’s largest settlement early today, seizing control of a major flashpoint with Jewish settlers who have resisted orders to leave the community under Israel’s Gaza withdrawal plan.

TEARFUL Jewish settlers locked gates at their communities, formed human chains and burned tires in a defiant bid to block troops from delivering eviction notices yesterday.

Thousands of Israeli troops marched into Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip today, delivering eviction notices in some communities, but encountering locked gates and protesters at others, as Israel’s historic pullout from the coastal territory got under way.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians crowded into Gaza City’s small fishing harbour today to celebrate the impending Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, waving flags and hearing promises from their leader, Mahmoud Abbas, that the West Bank and Jerusalem will be next.

PRIME MINISTER Ariel Sharon issued his sternest warning yet to Palestinian militants yesterday, promising no restraint in stopping an upsurge in violence that has left a Mideast truce in tatters ahead of Israel’s Gaza Strip pullout.

Israel today threatened to invade Gaza if Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas does not control militants who have stepped up rocket and mortar attacks ahead of Israel’s pullout from the territory next month.

Nearly all Gaza Strip settlers have agreed to move to Israel as a group following this summer’s withdrawal, a spokesman said today, signalling the collapse of what was once wall-to-wall resistance to the government’s plan to evacuate the coastal area.

The flare-up in violence in the Gaza Strip could delay Israel’s planned withdrawal from the crowded coastal area if Israel is forced to launch a new military campaign against Palestinian militants, a senior Israeli official warned today.

An Israeli aircraft today fired at a group of Hamas militants who were launching mortar shells at a Jewish settlement in the first such airstrike since a ceasefire was declared in February.

PALESTINIAN militants fired two rockets yesterday at a Jewish settlement bloc in the Gaza Strip, with one landing near thousands of Israelis protesting against this summer's planned withdrawal from the area.

Palestinian militants fired two rockets today at a Jewish settlement bloc in the Gaza Strip, with one landing near thousands of Israelis protesting against this summer’s planned withdrawal from the area. An Israeli soldier was lightly hurt by shrapnel.

Flatbed trucks rumbled out of the Gaza Strip today carrying office furniture, computers and uniforms out of an army base, the Israeli military’s first concrete step toward a planned pullout this summer.

Israeli deputy prime minister Shimon Peres said today the Palestinian government of Mahmoud Abbas is on the right track, despite last week’s Tel Aviv suicide bombing and other attempts by Palestinian militants to torpedo a fragile truce.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas will confront leaders of Gaza militant groups today, demanding they observe the ceasefire with Israel.

Josef Federman, Jerusalem

DEFIANT Palestinian militants pounded Jewish settlements in the southern Gaza Strip with mortar fire yesterday following the killing of a top Hamas militant in an Israeli airstrike.

Defiant Palestinian militants pounded Jewish settlements in the southern Gaza Strip with mortar fire today, following the killing of a top Hamas militant in an air strike.

Hamas vowed revenge today after an Israeli air strike killed its second most senior commander, in the latest Israeli assassination targeting the militant group.

An Israeli helicopter fired a missile at a Palestinian vehicle travelling in the southern Gaza Strip today, killing one person and wounding three others.

PALESTINIAN militants shelled an Israeli settlement in the Gaza Strip yesterday, killing one woman and wounding another.

An Israeli woman was killed in today's Palestinian mortar attack which hit a home in a Gaza Strip settlement.

SINGING the national anthem and waving Israeli flags, tens of thousands of Jewish settlers and their supporters joined hands to form a human chain along a 55-mile route, serving notice they will fight Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip.

Tens of thousands of Israelis linked hands today in a human chain in a protest against Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s plan to dismantle the Jewish settlements and withdraw the army from the Gaza Strip.

Israeli troops surrounded Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s compound early today, as a helicopter attack on Gaza gunmen killed two and wounded at least 17.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is to tinker with his plan for pulling out of Gaza and four West Bank settlements in an effort to salvage the proposal in the wake of its resounding defeat in a ruling party referendum.

Palestinians fired a barrage of home-made rockets and mortar shells at Gaza Strip settlements and towns inside Israel in retaliation for the killing of Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi.

Palestinians fired a barrage of home-made rockets and mortar shells at Gaza Strip settlements and towns inside Israel in retaliation for the killing of Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi.