44,000 to carry out Gaza evacuation

More than 40,000 soldiers and some 4,000 police are to be deployed in the Gaza Strip to carry out Israel’s evacuation, beginning in mid-August, Israel’s defence minister and police chief said today.

Troops are to be positioned in six circles, with police dominating the inner one, and a mix of soldiers and police in the outermost circle, Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz told a stormy session of MPs, Jewish settlers and ministry officials on Israel’s so-called “disengagement” from 21 settlements in Gaza and four in the West Bank.