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Israel seals Gaza Strip to begin pullout
(AP)
Updated: 2005-08-15 08:42
Israel lowered a road barrier sealing the Gaza Strip to Israeli civilians at
midnight Sunday — signaling the start of a historic withdrawal that will end its
38-year occupation, redraw borders and reshape prospects for Mideast peace, AP
reported.
The action made it illegal for Israelis to live in Gaza. Soldiers lowered
a red road barrier at the Kissufim Crossing between Israel and Gaza, with a sign
on the barrier reading: "Stop, entry into the Gaza Strip and presence there is
prohibited by law."
With about 200 people looking on, the barrier was raised and lowered several
times, apparently because of technical problems. Soldiers secured it with a wire
to keep it shut.
Two large Israeli flags waved beside the barrier. As it went down, a traffic
light changed from green to red and three vans carrying settlers and their
belongings drove out of Gaza, never to return.
"The Gaza Strip has been closed today based on the decision of the Israeli
government and today another phase begins," said Brig. Gen. Guy Tsur, a senior
commander.
The withdrawal, marking the first time Israel gives up settled land claimed
by the Palestinians for their future state, comes after months of political
wrangling and mass protests. On Sunday, Israeli troops took up positions to
launch the evacuation and Palestinian security forces fanned out to prevent
militant attacks.
Jewish settlers burn trash and maps of Gaza
they took from an army vehicle near the entrance of the Jewish settlement
of Neve Dekalim in the Gush Katif bloc of settlements in the southern Gaza
Strip shortly after midnight Monday Aug. 15,
2005.[AP] | Israel's army chief appealed to troops
to show restraint in removing thousands of Jewish settlers from their homes amid
concerns that resistance could turn violent after thousands of anti-pullout
activists slipped into the territory.
The presence of a few thousand Israelis in Gaza, among 1.3 million
Palestinians, has become a security burden, said Vice Premier Ehud Olmert. "The
state of Israel does not want to be in the Gaza Strip and does not need to be in
the Gaza Strip," he told Israel TV's Channel One.
In the hours leading up to the closure, thousands of Palestinian police moved
into positions near Jewish settlements with orders to keep away Palestinian
crowds and to prevent attacks by militants during the pullout — something that
Israel warned would bring harsh retaliation.
Officers planted Palestinian flags and pitched tents while some chanted in
praise of their late leader, Yasser Arafat. Hundreds of supporters of the
militant Islamic Jihad group celebrated in Gaza City, with gunmen firing in the
air, and teens setting off fire crackers and distributing sweets.The violent
Hamas group organized special midnight prayers of thanks at Gaza mosques.
Palestinian residents watched settlers packing up. "They are actually
leaving. Who would have ever thought?" said Palestinian farmer Ziyad Satari, 40,
standing on the roof of his three-story home in the Palestinian town of Khan
Younis, which overlooks the Morag settlement. Many Palestinians have expressed
doubt that the withdrawal will take place.
Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas offered the Israelis reassurance.
An Israeli army soldier closes the gate of the
entrance to the nothern Gaza Strip Jewish settlement of Nissanit shortly
after midnight Monday Aug. 15, 2005. [AP] | "We tell the Israeli people, `You have chosen the right path,'" he told
Israel TV's Channel 10. "This is the right path. Don't listen to the voices of
the extremists who want a continuation of the occupation. I don't want — and I
will not accept — any clashes with the army or the settlers."
Early Monday, the military will distribute eviction notices to the settlers,
but it called off plans to enter five of the 21 settlements, said army
spokeswoman Maj. Sharon Feingold. She said the reason was to "respect the
wishes" of the settlers, who preferred to receive the notices by mail. Earlier,
settlers there had said they would block the entrances to their villages.
It was the first hitch in the pullout plan. Shortly after midnight, several
hundred people from the largest settlement, Neve Dekalim, blocked the main road,
stopping army vehicles and scuffling with soldiers.
"It is OK to cry with them," the army chief, Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, told
commanders in urging troops to show understanding of the traumatic time for
settlers. During the two-day grace period, "we are there to take it and not to
dish it out," he added.
However, once forcible removal begins Wednesday morning, soldiers will act
with determination, Halutz said.
As part of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's withdrawal plan, which was approved
by parliament, Israel also will evacuate four small settlements in the northern
West Bank housing some 500 people.
Many hope the pullout from the territory Israel captured in 1967 will be the
start of a true partition of historic Palestine between Arab and Jew.
Others fear it is a ploy by Sharon to get rid of areas he doesn't consider
crucial to Israel while consolidating control of parts of the West Bank, where
the vast majority of the 240,000 Jewish settlers live.
The Palestinians want to create their own state out of the Gaza Strip and
West Bank, with east Jerusalem as their capital.
Hundreds of Gaza settlers vowed to ignore the deadline and stay in their
homes. They were reinforced by hard-line activists from outside Gaza. Halutz
estimated Sunday that about 5,000 outsiders had managed to sneak into Gaza in
recent weeks despite army restrictions.
They planned to try to close off their communities Monday by massing at
entrances and blocking roads to prevent soldiers from delivering eviction
notices.
But many families packed their belongings and left the Gaza Strip in recent
days, and more were leaving Sunday.
In the Peat Sadeh settlement, Yaakov Mazaltareen set fire to his two
warehouses that contained irrigation equipment and two vehicles. He used his
forklift to knock down what was left of the structures. Settlers stopped to
watch. One crying woman rushed her children away.
Most residents of Peat Sadeh already moved to Israel and were spending the
weekend in a hotel.
Dozens of anti-pullout protesters put up tents in the beachfront settlement
outpost of Shirat Hayam. They turned a dilapidated house into a storeroom,
piling up diapers, bottled water and canned foods. Women cooked on open fires,
children bathed in makeshift bathrooms and people chatted in open tents.
At a synagogue in Neve Dekalim, Gaza's largest settlement, seven people sat
in the sanctuary and quietly prayed. Itai Ben Simchon, 17, came to the synagogue
to collect his father's prayer shawl and said his family decided to leave on
their own so as not to lose out on compensation money. "My mother and father are
crying a lot," he said.
Pinchas Ariel, a farmer from the Ganei Tal settlement, said he also was
leaving on his own because he couldn't face clashing with Israeli soldiers. "I
was in the army. I have two sons who were paratroopers, and I'm not going to
fight my sons," he said.
Earlier Sunday, hundreds of settlers sang traditional prayers of redemption
as part of a ceremony at the Gush Katif cemetery to commemorate the Tisha B'Av
holy day marking the destruction of the Jewish Temples. The cemetery's 49 graves
are to be moved to Israel — one of the most emotionally charged issues in the
pullout.
Vice Premier Shimon Peres gave a pep talk to troops near the Gaza border.
"The settlements must be evacuated. They cannot stay here," he told
reporters. "I understand that there are feelings. I have sympathy (for the
settlers), but they cannot replace a national choice."
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