Gaza settlers 'will return army-issue weapons'
A Jewish settler leader in the Gaza Strip said today that settlers would comply with a Defence Ministry order to return army-issue weapons to the military, defusing a potentially serious problem ahead of this summer’s planned Israeli evacuation of the volatile territory.
The comment by Avner Shimoni, head of the Gaza Coast Settlers Council, followed yesterday’s announcement that Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz had instructed the military to work with settlers on a voluntary handover of weapons just before the pullout.
Meanwhile, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas ordered a sweeping reform of splintered Palestinian security services, a step toward meeting a key US and Israeli demand. But the cornerstone of hopes for progress toward peace, a two-month truce, was wobbling after Israel killed a militant.
The decision by the Defence Ministry on weapons confiscation reflected growing concern that extremists might resort to violence during the evacuation of all 21 Jewish settlements in Gaza and four in the West Bank, set for July.
Most opponents of the pullout have said they will confine their resistance to non-violent measures, but fears persist that a small minority could resort to live fire.
The Defence Ministry said the confiscation order applied to army-issue weapons in all settlements slated for evacuation. Private weapons were not to be affected, it said.
Speaking on Army Radio today, settler leader Shimoni said he was in favouring of complying with the Defence Ministry order.
“We won’t use these weapons to shoot, and if we have to return them we’ll return them,” he said. “The weapons were given to us for self-defence only. I, at least, and my friends will turn in these weapons.”
Other settlers attacked the Defence Ministry move.
Mofaz’s order is “a political tool to malign the settlers and to present them as violent,” settler spokeswoman Emily Amrusy said. “It is inconceivable that any settler would think of turning weapons on security forces.”
