Gaza withdrawal deadline passes

The midnight deadline for Jewish settlers to evacuate the Gaza Strip passed at 10pm Irish time, setting the stage for the Israeli military to evict thousands of the settlers and their supporters.

Moments before the deadline, settlers were in synagogues in several of the 21 Gaza communities, dancing around sacred Torah scrolls, waving flags and singing nationalist songs in a show of defiance against Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s plan to unilaterally hand over the territory to Palestinian control.

Israeli officials said about half of the 1,600 families who lived in Gaza had left voluntarily before time ran out, packing their belongings into huge container trucks.

At least three settlements were abandoned, and several more were nearly deserted.

But a determined throng of settlers refused to leave, and waited for troops to physically haul them away.

Military spokeswoman Miri Regev said the army would assist anyone who wanted to leave voluntarily, even beyond the deadline.

Police and army troops blocked access roads to Gaza to prevent anti-withdrawal protesters from reaching the territory.

An estimated 5,000 had slipped into the area in recent weeks.

Police said knots of demonstrators blocked road junctions in southern Israel and were dispersed. More than a dozen were detained for defying police orders to leave.