The Israeli military lowered the national flag over its headquarters in the Gaza Strip for the last time on Sunday as the government declared an end to 38 years of military occupation and Israel handed over demolished Jewish settlements to the Palestinians.
Palestinian leaders described the pullout as a ”liberation”, but boycotted the formal transfer ceremony in protest at continued Israeli controls over border crossings, and other restrictions that they say maintain the occupation.
The final withdrawal began after a brief ceremony at the Gaza military headquarters, one of the few buildings left in what had been the largest settlement in the Gaza Strip, Neve Dekalim. Palestinian security forces began moving into the settlements late on Sunday night as the last Israeli troops began to leave.
”We are at the start of a new beginning and a historic opportunity for a better future for both peoples,” the Israeli military commander in Gaza, Major General Dan Harel, told his departing troops.
Thousands of Palestinians gathered on roads leading to the settlements, ready to storm through the rubble once the Israeli forces had gone. A boy, 12, who got too close was seriously injured by gunfire from one of the tanks and armoured vehicles still guarding the settlements. Three other people were also wounded.
Hundreds of Egyptian police moved into a militarised corridor just inside Gaza at the weekend to take responsibility for control of the border.
The chief Palestinian minister in Gaza, Mohammed Dahlan, said the Israeli withdrawal from territory expropriated after the strip was captured from Egypt in 1967 was a liberation. ”It is the first time in Israeli history and Zionist practice that they have destroyed [Jewish] settlements in Palestinian territory,” he said.
”In terms of liberation it means a lot to us. They imprisoned 1,3-million Palestinians in Gaza for the sake of a few thousand settlers. Every Palestinian knows the horrible impact those settlers had on their lives.” But he disputed Israeli claims that the occupation was at an end, saying that Israel continued to control Gaza’s air space and territorial waters, and was refusing to allow free movement to and from Egypt by maintaining Israeli border controls.
The Palestinian Authority is planning a public celebration rally inside the largest Gaza settlement block on Monday morning, but admitted that it would probably have to throw open the gates of the settlements at dawn to the throngs keen to see how the Israelis lived, or to reach the beaches for the first time in years.
Hamas declared the withdrawal a victory for armed resistance over negotiation, and said it would rename the land on which the settlements once stood after the ”martyrs” who died attacking Israel.
Israel’s deputy Prime Minister, Shimon Peres, said the Palestinians had the chance to prove that they were able to govern themselves. ”The Palestinians need to show that are capable of controlling Gaza. This is the first time in the history of the Palestinian people where they have been given the opportunity to fully govern a defined territory,” he said.
But the Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, confirmed Palestinian fears that the Gaza pullout was intended to allow Israel to tighten its control over the occupied West Bank when he said he would continue expanding settlement blocks there even if it damaged relations with Washington. ”I don’t think they’ll be too happy. But they are the major blocks and we must build,” he said. ”We don’t have an agreement with the US about this, but these areas are going to be part of Israel.”
The timing of the Israeli departure from Gaza remained in doubt until hours before it began because of differences over the fate of 26 synagogues in the defunct settlements. The government originally planned to demolish them, but religious leaders appealed for them to be preserved on the grounds that Jews do not destroy synagogues, and that it might provide a pretext for other countries to do the same. On Sunday, the Israeli Cabinet voted to hand over the buildings intact.
The Foreign Minister, Silvan Shalom, asked the PA to ensure they were not desecrated. ”I hope the Palestinian Authority will come to its senses and not allow barbarism and vandalism to rule over the synagogues. If this does happen, the world will see what we’re dealing with,” he said.
But Dahlan described the synagogues as a ”trap” designed to embarrass the Palestinians. He said the PA no longer regarded them as holy sites. ”From the Israeli point of view they are not synagogues anymore because they have been emptied [of religious artefacts],” he said. ”We respect holy places for all faiths including Judaism [but] the synagogues should be treated like other buildings in the settlements.”
Palestinian jubilation at the return of the settlements is tempered by growing popular anger at Israel’s refusal to allow free passage to Egypt. Palestinian radio characterised the two developments as Gazans being given greater freedom of movement inside a prison.
But Peres denied there was any intent to continue to control the Palestinian population. ”We are not making Gaza into a prison, people will be able to leave Gaza and enter Gaza, and within Gaza the roads will be open,” he said. ”Obviously in all these cases we shall attend to Israel’s security needs.” – Guardian Unlimited Â