Israel to mop up pullout foes in Gaza strongholds

By Mark Heinrich

NEVE DEKALIM, Gaza Strip (Reuters) – Israeli forces aimed
to clear the last Jewish settlers and protesters from Gaza
strongholds on Friday after breaking the back of resistance to
ending nearly four decades of occupation.

Officials said over 80 percent of the strip’s settlers had
been evacuated as well as hundreds of rightists from outside,
many dragged kicking and wailing from synagogues where they had
holed up and clashed with troops sent to bring them out.

By the end of Thursday, most protesters had been cleared
from the biggest settlement of Neve Dekalim and from Kfar
Darom, scene of the worst violence since the start of forced
evictions.

Police used cranes and water cannon to battle protesters on
the roof of a synagogue. They fought back with rocks and
paint-filled light bulbs. Some of the dozens of security
personnel injured suffered light acid burns.

Israeli opponents call the first pullout from settlements
on land Palestinians want for a state a victory for militants
– a view echoed by the gunmen — as well as the betrayal of a
biblical claim that could set a precedent elsewhere.

“I am totally exhausted, but it has not been for nothing,”
said protester Shlomit Binyamin, 17, in Neve Dekalim. “I hope
the people of Israel will ensure there will be no more
disengagement. We must continue the fight.”

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon dubs the pullout
“disengagement” from conflict and most Israelis back it.
Political analysts say it could also reduce foreign pressure to
give up bigger settlements in the West Bank, land the
Palestinians also seek.

Most housing blocks in Neve Dekalim stood empty of life
after the evacuations. A bicycle lay abandoned, ribbons in the
orange protest color of the settlers tied to its handlebars.

One family struggled to load a 3 meter (yard) mango tree,
planted when they moved to the settlement at its founding in
1983, aboard an evacuation bus.

SUNDOWN DEADLINE

The army planned to make sure any stragglers were out by
sundown on Friday, start of the Jewish sabbath.

“Our forces will do a sweep, block by block to ensure the
area is clear,” said army spokesman Ari Gottefmann.

Fourteen of 21 Gaza settlements are clear and officials
said all may be empty by Tuesday, far sooner than first
thought. Only isolated Netzarim looms as a potential
troublespot. But community leaders said they had agreed to
leave on Monday.

Two of four West Bank settlements on the evacuation list
are already empty and attention is expected to move quickly to
the others. In a sign the protesters have not given up, though,
they blocked the road from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv on Thursday
night.

Palestinians welcome the withdrawal of the 9,000 settlers
from Gaza and the West Bank, but fear Israel aims to keep most
of the other communities housing 230,000 settlers forever. Some
3.8 million Palestinians live in Gaza and the West Bank.

The White House, which sees the withdrawal as a way to
boost peacemaking prospects, praised Israel’s pullout on
Thursday and said it would strengthen ties. Israel seeks $2.2
billion in aid from its U.S. ally after the withdrawal.

Sharon has said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas must
dismantle powerful militant factions before there can be any
progress to statehood talks under a U.S.-sponsored “road map.”

But militants say the Gaza withdrawal has shown that
fighting is the way to take more land from Israel. The army
said gunmen injured a soldier lightly in a shooting on Thursday
and fired two mortars at the main settlement bloc.

Israel says the pullout will end its occupation of Gaza,
but Palestinians say that can only happen once they gain full
control of borders and airspace. Israel is reluctant to allow
that for now, citing security reasons.

The World Court brands settlements illegal. Israel disputes
this.