Israeli forces on Tuesday emptied the last of 25 Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip and West Bank earmarked for demolition, after warnings of an apocalyptic battle to end Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s historic pull-out failed to materialise.
The army and police moved into two isolated settlements in the northern West Bank, Sa Nur and Homesh, where hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Jews and ultra-nationalists had replaced many of the long-term residents who left before the showdown.
Police chiefs had said they believed there were armed men in both settlements, and that some of the more militant elements had hoarded firebombs and stun grenades.
But the resistance to the Sharon’s ”disengagement plan” was limited to small pockets led by a group of about 40 protesters who barricaded themselves on the roof of a former British fort in Sa Nur. Israeli forces fired water cannon and teargas as demonstrators used poles and ladders to try to stave off two containers with riot police on board, lowered by cranes on to the roof.
The police permitted the protesters to pray before they were forced into the containers and lowered to the ground. The security forces also emptied a synagogue in Sa Nur by cutting through iron bars after about 20 ultra-Orthodox Jews welded themselves inside.
The clearing of the two Israeli colonies, along with the army taking formal control of two others in the area that had already been abandoned by residents, brought the entire evacuation operation in Gaza and the West Bank to an end, just one week after it started. The military had feared that removing the 8 500 settlers, plus thousands of supporters, might take up to six weeks.
In Homesh, most long-term residents left before Tuesday. Some of those who remained were appalled by the more than 1 000 new arrivals who moved in during recent months to resist the evacuation and who busied themselves by trashing everything that the settlers had built up since 1980.
Youths dismantled the perimeter security fences to create barricades around streets and buildings. Large metal bins were turned over and set alight, along with tyres, a car and an Israeli flag.
Jacob Friedman (68) one of the original residents, said the settlers were going to join a kibbutz inside Israel and were unhappy with the measures that the mostly religious newcomers planned to take.
”We are annoyed that they have taken over our homes and we do not approve of their struggle at all,” he said.
The first house to be evacuated was at the top of the settlement. Its occupants, two families from the settlement of Talmon, resisted the soldiers, despite their permanent home being elsewhere.
Large groups of youths barricaded themselves in some houses and resisted by throwing fruit and liquids. The army said had been were two attempts to stab soldiers. But, as in Gaza, the overwhelming number of police and soldiers soon overcame resistance. Both settlements were cleared by dusk.
Bentzi Lieberman, the chairperson of the settler’s council, said the struggle was not over, even if the Gaza settlements were lost. He said the council would continue to develop settlements in the West Bank and would resist any attempt by Sharon to dismantle illegal outposts in the occupied territories, which the government has pledged to demolish.
Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leader, congratulated Sharon on the pullout in a phone call. United States President George Bush also praised Sharon, adding: ”What must take place next is the establishment of a working government in Gaza, that responds to the people.” – Guardian Unlimited Â