Israel seals off Gaza Strip settlements
Israeli troops today sealed off a cluster of Gaza Strip settlements marked for evacuation in order to stop an influx of hard-line pullout opponents, in the government’s most sweeping measure yet to prepare for next month’s withdrawal from 25 settlements.
Settlers responded defiantly, threatening to block roads throughout Israel and to step up other demonstrations in protest. But several attempts to stop traffic fizzled.
Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ordered a relentless hunt for the leaders of Islamic Jihad, and Israeli troops reoccupied the northern West Bank town of Tulkarem in response to a suicide bombing that killed four Israeli women in the resort town of Netanya the day before.
A gun battle between soldiers and Palestinian police in Tulkarem left one police officer dead and a second critically wounded. Soldiers arrested six people, including the father of the bomber.
Palestinian officials strongly condemned the bombing, saying it weakened their interests.
They, as well as most militant groups, want to maintain calm ahead of Israel’s planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements next month.
In preparation for the pullout, Mr Sharon today ordered the settlements closed to all non-residents, the first step in his “disengagement” plan. Residents would still be able to move in and out of the settlements freely, the army said.
Soldiers immediately set up roadblocks at the Kissufim crossing into the Gush Katif cluster of settlements in Gaza to enforce the order, causing a traffic jam of settler cars, army trucks and police vehicles.
The soldiers turned away those trying to enter without residence permits, and a police officer with a megaphone told the drivers that they had no business being there if they did not live in the settlements.
Some drivers argued vehemently, screaming at police that they had driven great distances to be there, but most left quietly.
“It’s one of the most painful times, it’s terrible,” said Hana Picard, 48, a resident of Gush Katif.
In recent months, scores of pullout opponents moved into empty houses and tents in the settlements, and others were planning to march en masse into Gush Katif on Monday and remain there to resist the pullout.
“The (closure) decision was made because of the constant flow of extremists into Gaza in order to be there on D-Day and to try to sabotage the pullout,” said Major General Dan Harel, the regional Israeli army commander.
Responding, settler leader Eran Sternberg called Mr Sharon “a hooligan” and said he was “exploiting the army for a political decision.”
Later, police raided the offices of the National Home, an anti-pullout group, arresting an 18-year-old girl suspected of coordinating the settlers’ road-blocking campaign.
Some of the settlers also accused the government of bad taste in ordering the closure just a day after the deadly suicide bombing in Netanya shook a five-month-old truce between Israel and the Palestinians.
In response to the bombing, Mr Sharon ordered security forces to “hit the leadership of Islamic Jihad”.
He added: “We will not stop until they stop the terrorist murders.”
Taking control of the West Bank town of Tulkarem, Israeli troops declared a curfew and conducted house-to-house searches in pursuit of the Netanya bombing’s masterminds. Palestinian police disappeared from streets and checkpoints.
Israel handed Tulkarem to Palestinian control four months ago as part of a gradual Israeli withdrawal from West Bank cities. Israeli Cabinet ministers said the process had been frozen.
The army’s operation began with undercover troops storming a Palestinian checkpoint, Palestinian security officials said. The police manning the roadblock opened fire when they did not recognise the armed men dressed in civilian clothes as Israeli soldiers.
The soldiers returned fire, killing one of the police officers and critically wounding a second. Minutes later, a large Israeli force flooded Tulkarem and an adjacent refugee camp.
“The specific goal of this operation is to destroy the Palestinian Islamic Jihad infrastructure in Tulkarem and its surroundings,” said Brigadier General Yair Golan, a West Bank military commander.
“If the Palestinian Authority doesn’t deal with the terrorism then we will be forced to do so.”
International pressure also built on Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to take action against Islamic Jihad.
Mr Abbas, who harshly condemned the bombing, has preferred to try to co-opt the militant groups, fearing that a crackdown would spark a civil war.
In condemning the attack, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called on the Palestinian Authority to punish those responsible.
Two 16-year-old girls and a 31-year-old woman were killed instantly in the bombing. A 50-year-old woman died today.
The bomber, 18-year-old Sami Abu Khalil, was from the village of Atil near Tulkarem.
Atil is under full Israeli control, and Israeli officials acknowledged a failure by intelligence to detect the plot.
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