Troops remove Gaza demonstrators

The Jewish settlements of Kfar Darom and Neve Dekalim in the Gaza Strip have become the focus of resistance to Ariel Sharon's pullout plan.

Hundreds of opponents of the Gaza pullout plan barricaded themselves in the settlements' synagogues and on rooftops as troops moved in to evict the settlers.

Israeli troops today resumed an operation started yesterday to forcibly remove the settlers and demonstrators from the settlements. Homes, fields, and tyres were set ablaze as protestors were dragged screaming from properties in the settlement.

Authorities in Israel said that by nightfall troops were expected to have cleared 18 of the 21 Gaza settlements in an operation claimed to be two weeks ahead of schedule. Though, some reports today indicated that eight of the 21 settlements had been cleared.

Elsewhere, in other settlements there were similar scenes as protestors were forcibly removed from properties in the Gaza Strip. Residents jeered and yelled at troops and there were reports that one soldier who disobeyed orders was removed from the scene by other soldiers. A stand-off between a settler armed with an assault rifle and troops has been reported.

But among the fiercest opposition to the clearing of the Gaza Strip on Thursday was in Kfar Darfom where protestors had commenced a rooftop protest behind barbed wire barricades.

It is believed that up to 1,500 protestors many from other areas have made their way to the settlement which has become a focus for resistance to the resettlement plan. There was a stand-off between settlers and troops along a mile-long cordon as troops struggled to remove protestors.

But one of the worst incidents to date occurred in the West Bank territory where a Jewish settler opened fire killing four Palestinian workers. Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas condemned the incident.

Ariel Sharon proposed the pullout from Gaza and The West Bank two years ago as a "disengagement" strategy for the territories seized by Israel security forces 38 years ago.

The pullout is part of a peace plan backed by the US which will see the disputed areas, which Israel has held as "buffer zones" since 1967, handed over to the Palestinian Authority.

While Palestinians see the pullout as a victory, Israeli settlers have accused Ariel Sharon of betrayal.

(SP/KMcA)