Israel begins withdrawal from Gaza Strip

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.

It was trhe beginning of Israel's pull out from the Gaza Strip after 38 years of occupation.

Police and soldiers waited patiently in the sweltering sun and avoided confrontations at the behest of their commanders. At one point, a sobbing settler pleaded with a general not to evict him before the two men embraced.

With some 50,000 soldiers and police involved, the withdrawal was Israel’s largest noncombat military operation.

Israeli troops who fanned out across the Gaza Strip delivered eviction notices in six settlements, but met protests in others. The notices gave settlers until midnight to leave. If they ignore the deadline, they will be removed by force and could lose up to a third of the compensation being offered by the government for giving up their homes.

Although many of Gaza’s 8,500 settlers already left, the army estimated thousands remained, bolstered by some 5,000 hardliners who came to help residents resist the pullout.

Settlers were defiant at Gush Katif. Hundreds blocked the gates of Neve Dekalim, Gaza’s largest settlement, to prevent troops from entering.

Dozens of men, wearing white prayer shawls, held morning prayers at the gate, appealing for divine intervention to block the withdrawal. Youths wearing orange, the colour of defiance, sat on the streets and yelled at soldiers. “You’re a partner to a crime,” one screamed.

Troops moved into the community through a second entrance, only to be blocked by crowds who burned tires, formed human chains and scuffled with soldiers. When a small group of soldiers managed to enter, settlers took the eviction notices and burned them. One policeman was covered in green paint thrown by protesters.

Despite the stand-off, there were signs that residents would leave before the deadline.

After negotiations with police, protesters in Neve Dekalim allowed a large convoy of moving trucks to enter through the main gate, though young activists sporadically blocked the vehicles. Army officials said at least 200 settler families throughout Gaza had asked for assistance in moving their belongings.

“This morning, the people stood up to the police and it was a victory. Now the [shipping] containers are coming in. It is heartbreaking and negative,” said Yosef Meron, 68, of Neve Dekalim.

Military commanders listened to the settlers’ appeals, but said they would not be deterred.

Major General Dan Harel, Israel’s commander over the Gaza region, said the operation was going as anticipated.

At the isolated Morag settlement, hundreds of people blocked troops at the gate. One man, identified by Israeli media as Liron Zeidan, burst into tears as he pleaded with officers not to remove him from his home.

“I am not your enemy. I served as an officer under you,” the man told Brig Gen Erez Zuckerman, commander of the army unit waiting at the gate.

Brig Gen Zuckerman listened and wiped sweat off his brow, then hugged the young man. “We love you, you are part of us,” he told the assembled settlers.

Resistance was much more subdued in the settlements of Nissanit, Elei Sinai and Dugit, secular communities in northern Gaza that were virtually empty.

In Nissanit, some homes were covered in graffiti, including one that read “Sharon is a Nazi”.

Soldiers also had eviction notices for four small West Bank settlements. They chose not to enter two of the communities where hardline extremists were holed up. The army instead planned to hand the orders to community leaders.