Israeli forces storm Gaza synagogues

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.

Troops at the synagogue in Gaza’s largest settlement, Neve Dekalim, wrestled with protesters who lay on the ground with their arms linked together and began dragging away some 1,500 settlers and their supporters by their arms and legs.

Protesters chanted “blasphemy, blasphemy,” as soldiers dragged them out. One religious soldier, who wore a skullcap, suffered a panic attack and was taken away by medics. He also muttered “blasphemy.”

“Don’t expel Jews,” the crowd chanted as police charged into the prayer hall. Protesters booed, whistled and threw water on troops.

At Kfar Darom, an isolated hardline settlement in the heart of Gaza, riot police with shields and helmets burst into the synagogue and fired a water cannon at protesters gathered on the fortified rooftop.

Army cranes raised metal cages to the roof, preparing to carry protesters away. Troops inside one cage – a moving container with sides made of metal wire - held up shields against a barrage of eggs, milk bags and paint-filled light bulbs.

Inside the building, five helmeted police surrounded one young man on the balcony who had draped himself in the Israeli flag and tried to persuade him to leave before carrying him away.

It was no coincidence that settlers chose synagogues to make their last stand. Many of the settlers and their supporters are devout Jews who believe the West Bank and Gaza were promised to the Jews by God. They say their eviction is sacrilege.

Clearing the two synagogues would be an important victory for the forces. The people inside – mostly extremist youths from the West Bank and Israel – have provided some of the fiercest resistance to the pullout.

The synagogue showdowns played themselves out as security forces dragged screaming residents out of homes and settlers elsewhere burned houses, fields, and tires in protest.

On the second day of removing settlers by force, troops encountered stiffer opposition than at the start of the operation. However, security officials said they expected to clear out all 21 Gaza settlements by Tuesday, more than two weeks ahead of schedule. By nightfall, police expected 18 settlements to be empty.

Neve Dekalim, the largest Gaza settlement, was largely cleared out yesterday. But 1,500 protesters took refuge in the synagogue and refused to leave. Soldiers burst into the building this afternoon after hours of negotiations with settler leaders broke down.

As the troops approached the synagogue, a bearded settler wearing a skullcap spat on an Israeli flag and ripped it into pieces. The man wore an orange Star of David on his shirt – reminiscent of the star the Nazis made Jews wear during the Second World War. Soldiers heading in and out of the building burst into tears during the operation.

In the farming settlement of Netzer Hazani, protesters set fire to barricades, fields and houses, sending a huge plume of black smoke into the air. Youths in Shirat Hayam, a hardline beachfront outpost, burned tires and rubbish. In the nearby outpost of Kfar Yam, a Jewish settler armed with an M-16 rifle threatened to open fire on troops if they attempt to evacuate him.

The army declared a curfew in Al-Mawasi, a Palestinian town adjacent to Shirat Hayam amd Kfar Yam, to protect settlers and soldiers during the pullout.

There had been relatively little violence in Gaza yesterday – though a Jewish extremist in the West Bank shot dead four Palestinians in an apparent attempt to disrupt the Gaza pullout.

In Kfar Darom, the army set up a special command centre, and the army chief, Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, personally oversaw the operation. Soldiers formed several cordons around him to shield him from shouting settlers.

Thousands of soldiers had entered the settlement at dawn and quickly encircled the synagogue and two nearby buildings. After failed attempts to negotiate a peaceful surrender, troops began moving into homes.

“Why did you become a soldier, to be in this crazy situation?” screamed a young mother, cradling a baby, as soldiers entered her home.

In another house, a husband and wife lay on the floor, shrieking and clutching their small children. A soldier participating in the evacuation of a religious school suddenly disobeyed orders and was quickly carried away by troops.

Troops also burst into a nursery school crowded with protesters. People sang and danced as the troops entered, and about two dozen young children were playing with toys. Troops quickly cleared out the building.

Moti Cohen, who had come from Jerusalem to be with the settlers, said protesters at the synagogue have hoarded sand bags and cans of foam spray for the confrontation. A large banner draped over the facade read: “For the Lord will not abandon His people or abandon His land.”

Residents jeered the forces throughout the day, driving several soldiers to tears. “You’re right. Cry like we are crying,” shouted one settler who was loaded onto a bus, still wearing his white prayer shawl. By midday, 200 people had been removed, the army said.

Noga Cohen, who had three children maimed in a Palestinian shooting attack on a bus, said Israel was surrendering to Palestinian militants. On the door of her house was a sign. “In the event you knock on the door, you are a direct partner in the most terrible crime in the history of the nation of Israel.”

Just a few yards outside Kfar Darom, dozens of Palestinians stood on the roofs of their houses watching the evacuation.

“For the first time in the last few years I’m standing here without any fear that Israelis will shoot at me because their battle today is against themselves,” said Mohammed Bashir, a Palestinian farmer.

So far the pullout’s worst violence occurred not in Gaza, but in the West Bank. A Jewish settler, apparently despondent over the withdrawal, opened fire at Palestinian workers, killing four.

Hamas pledged revenge, but a spokesman for the Islamic militant group indicated the group would not attack exiting Israelis in Gaza since it wants the withdrawal to be completed as soon as possible.

After the West Bank shooting, three mortar shells and a homemade rocket fired from Palestinian territory exploded near emptied Gaza settlements. No one was hurt.

Sharon proposed his “disengagement plan” two years ago to ease Israel’s security burden and help preserve Israel’s Jewish character by placing Gaza’s 1.3 million Palestinians outside the country’s boundaries. Israel has occupied Gaza for 38 years.

The Palestinian Authority and the US want the pullout to be the beginning of the “road map” peace process, meant to bring about an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel.

Palestinian militants are portraying the pullout as a victory for their suicide bombings and rocket attacks, and some Israelis fear they will resume their violence once the withdrawal is complete.