Enlarge imageBy Meir Maman
NETZARIM, Gaza Strip (Reuters) - Israeli forces plan to clear Gaza’s last remaining Jewish settlement on Monday, completing a swift evacuation that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon says aims to end 38 years of occupation.
The army expected little resistance from some 496 settlers at Netzarim, a remote enclave in central Gaza often attacked by Palestinian militants. "We have been in touch with the residents and hope for a quiet removal," a military source said.
But there was less optimism over Sanur and Homesh, two enclaves in the northern West Bank next on the removal roster, where Israeli troops scuffled with ultranationalists on Sunday.
Israeli forces finished emptying the main Gaza settlement bloc of Gush Katif on Sunday. Bulldozers set about razing the red-roofed homes under a deal with the Palestinians, who seek Gaza, captured by Israel in a 1967 war, for a future state.
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"Truly, you have done something here that was unbearably difficult -- very difficult for the residents, difficult for you, but essential for the State of Israel," Sharon said in a speech to army evacuation squads.
The last Gaza exits were peaceful, with settlers gathering in synagogues for final vigils before heading out en masse.
By contrast, last week saw clashes mounted by West Bank radicals who had slipped past an army blockade to make stands at Neve Dekalim, the biggest Gaza settlement, and Kfar Darom.
Sanur and Homesh, the last of four West Bank settlements to go under Sharon’s "Disengagement Plan", are the hardliners’ home turf. In a sign of possible violence to come, hundreds of young ultranationalists blocked bulldozers trying to carve out a camp for the army near Sanur on Sunday, scuffling with troops.
ISRAELI FORCES REMAIN IN GAZA
The Palestinian Authority has decreed that it will take over Gaza settlements once the Israelis leave. President Mahmoud Abbas deployed security forces to stop last-ditch attacks by Islamic militants who have waged a 4-1/2-year-old uprising.
A full handover may not happen before October.
Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz told the Maariv daily on Sunday that "it will take another four to six weeks for the equipment to be packed up, the structures demolished, and the army’s encampments to be evacuated as well".
About 95 percent of Gaza’s 8,500 settlers have gone since mandatory evacuations began last Wednesday, an exit much faster and smoother than many had expected after months of escalating rightist protests against the planned pullout.
Sharon calls the pullout "disengagement" from conflict with Palestinians and U.S.-led mediators see the move as a catalyst for reviving a Middle East peace process frozen since 2000.
Palestinians are glad to see the back of the Gaza settlers and 500 more in the West Bank. But they fear Israel aims to keep forever most other West Bank settlements housing 230,000 people.
Most Israelis favour "disengagement" from 2.4 million Palestinians in the West Bank and 1.4 million in tiny Gaza.
Israeli rightists say the pullout is a victory for Palestinian militants, a view echoed by the gunmen, and fear that uprooting Gaza’s settlements sets a precedent for further moves out of much bigger Israeli enclaves in the West Bank.
The World Court says Jewish settlements are illegal. Israel disputes this.
