Israel begins evicting settlers

Hundreds of troops escorted by bulldozers marched into Neve Dekalim settlement, a focus of resistance where thousands have defied orders to leave.

There have been several reports of protesters being carried away kicking and screaming onto buses.

But despite resistance troops have got on with their job, correspondents say.

The evacuation could be completed within days rather than weeks, Israeli officials said.

Some army units have been delayed by sporadic protests from mainly young protesters. There have been scuffles and a number of arrests.

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4157998.stm

IDF enters synagogues; woman soldier stabbed

Forced evacuations of settlers mounted in intensity throughout the Gaza Strip Wednesday, as a woman IDF soldier was stabbed and lightly wounded by a pullout opponent in the Gaza Strip settlement of Morag , and troops entered synagogues in Bedolah and Tel Katifa to oust disengagement opponents who had taken refuge there.

A woman who infiltrated Morag stabbed the soldier with the needle of an IV set near the settlement synagogue after arguing with her. She was arrested and brought in for questioning.

Speaking soon after the incident, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon beseeched settlers not to attack soldiers and police removing them from their homes, declaring that opponents of the disengagement plan should "not hurt them, rather hurt me."

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http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/612980.html

Woman sets herself ablaze during protest in Netivot
By Haaretz Staff

A right-wing activist set herself ablaze Wednesday during an anti-pullout protest in the Negev town of Netivot.

She was seriously wounded, suffering from burns on 60 percent of her body. She was taken to Soroka Medical Center in Be'er Sheva for treatment.

Police said Wednesday morning that in the last 24 hours they had arrested 498 pullout opponents, of whom 451 were released.

Also Wednesday, 48 people, some of them armed, were arrested on their way to the northern West Bank settlement of Homesh.

In recent days, police and Shin Bet security service officials have been
hard at work trying to identify and locate hard-core elements among the infiltrators, including extremists who might use violence against the security forces or carry out a terror attack against Palestinian targets.

In the wake of AWOL soldier Eden Natan Zada's terror attack in Shfaram on August 4, security forces have intensified their intelligence efforts with regard to the so-called hilltop youth, particularly the hard-core group from the West Bank settlement of Kfar Tapuah, where Natan Zada had lived in recent months.

A number of right-wing extremists, including hilltop youth leaders, have been questioned recently, but security sources say the police and Shin Bet have not garnered any concrete information regarding plans by radical elements to carry out terror-like attacks on the evacuating forces or use arms to oppose the pullout.

The most radical elements expected to resist the evacuating forces in Gush Katif over the coming days will presumably be individuals who infiltrated the Gaza Strip following its closure to non-residents on July 13. Recent days have seen increased tension between settler leaders and the outside elements, with the former appearing to have lost control over the extremists.

"Those lunatics should be thrown out of here," said Yesha Council of settlements member Shaul Goldstein of the youths who in recent demonstrations in Neveh Dekalim vandalized military vehicles, threw objects and paint at soldiers and police, and prevented shipping containers from being brought into the settlement.

Other Gush Katif residents have accused the visitors of compromising their struggle against the evacuation.

The largest number of infiltrators is in Neveh Dekalim, and some of the Gush Katif youth have joined up with the more radical groups that are planning to put up a fight when the evacuation forces arrive.

Other settlements, such as Netzarim, have made efforts to get rid of such groups; while in Kfar Darom, the 1,300-1,500 anti-disengagement activists who have arrived in the settlement in recent weeks have been made well aware in recent days of the boundaries of the struggle and its non-violent nature.

One of the biggest issues facing security forces is how so many non-residents were able to enter Gush Katif and the northern West Bank settlements and how the people illegally present in the communities will conduct themselves during the evacuation.

Police sources refused Tuesday to provide any official figures regarding infiltrators in the settlements slated for evacuation, saying that there had been a mass exodus from the area in recent days and that it was impossible to say with any certainty how many still remained there. The sources said, however, that up to 5,000 infiltrators could still be in the settlements.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/613781.html

Pouring into the settlements, Israeli soldiers began grabbing defiant settlers and pushing them into buses, Reuters reported.

"I don't want to. I don't want to," a Jewish female settler wept as four female soldiers, each grabbing a limb, carried her out of her home in Neve Dekalim.

Around 50 Israeli soldiers also dragged away a group of nine Jewish female settlers, who were kicking and screaming onto a bus, according to AFP.

"He (Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon) has destroyed our lives and it's just one big party for you," screeched one of the women.

Another cried out: "You are bringing destruction on Israel."

Burning Tires

Israeli forces also poured into the settlement of Morag after clearing large garbage containers and other obstacles placed by the Jewish settlers to block their forced eviction, the Israeli daily Ha'aretz said.

Seeing the forces pouring into the settlement, Jewish settlers burned tires in the settlement and other settlers screamed at soldiers to refuse evacuation orders.

"Guys, why are you doing this?" cried a man named Yehuda who stood on his rooftop wearing his old military uniform in the Morag settlement after troops broke through a burning barricade and marched into the enclave.

But after briefly barricaded themselves in the synagogue, about 80 Jewish settlers agreed to leave and board buses out of the settlement.

Israeli forces also entered the settlement of Bedolah and made their way into the synagogue, where residents had barricaded themselves.

Israeli government eviction notices went into effect Monday but settlers were given a48 -hour grace period to leave or be removed from all21 settlements in Gaza and four of 120 enclaves in the West Bank.

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As of Wednesday afternoon, three Gaza Strip settlements have been evacuated - Ganei Tal, Kerem Atzmon, and Tel Katifa - where soldiers reportedly forced one teenage settler down from the water tower where he remained, insisting on remaining in the settlement.

Despite the friction, resistance to soldiers has reportedly eased in most locations, according to Israeli Police Chief Moshe Karadi.

Karadi expressed hope that dialogue between settlers and soldiers, who had been apparently training for weeks for the removal of settlers, would help the situation. "We hope dialogue will help,” he said.

He added that based on the current pace of the evacuation which is apparently faster than Israel had estimated, the pullout may end "sooner than planned."

One factor which may have calmed resistance was an announcement by one of the settler movement's rabbis, considered the "ideological stronghold" of the Gush Katif settler movement, to leave the settlements voluntarily.

Fierce clashes between soldiers and settlers

Earlier in the day, some settlers burned tires and garbage, while others threw eggs and water bottles at soldiers. Police forces arrested at least 60 protesters, forcing them on to buses.

Dozens of settlers barricaded themselves in one of the Gaza strip's synagogues in the settlement of Morag. Many settlers screamed at soldiers who attempted to remove them from their homes. Some settlers reportedly took a hammer to their homes, in attempt to destroy them before they were forces to leave.

In one case, police teams were forced to remove obstacles placed to prevent them from entering and removing the settlers.

Clashes began after Israeli forces on Wednesday moved into Neveh Dekalim, the biggest settlement of the Gaza Strip, as well as the isolated enclave of Morag, in order to evacuate settlers.

More than15 ,000 police officers and soldiers were being deployed in "Gush Katif" settlement bloc as of Wednesday morning, to begin the forced evacuation of the settlements.

According to Haaretz, a senior aide to Iasraeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said early Wednesday that all or nearly all of the 21 Gaza Strip settlements could be evacuated within 48hours.

http://www.albawaba.com/en/news/187725