Palestinians celebrate impending withdrawal

Abbas, surrounded by security guards, spoke briefly to the crowd. “From here, from this place, our nation and our masses are walking toward the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital,” Abbas said.

Yet the tensions between Abbas and Hamas became apparent when Cabinet minister Mohammed Dahlan said the Palestinian flag must be the official banner at all celebrations. He did not refer to Hamas directly. The militant group has said it plans its own military-style celebrations, and is sewing thousands of its own green banners.

“This era is the era of unity, and the era that will end any competition or disagreement,” Dahlan told the crowd.

The Palestinian celebration comes just two days before Israel is set to begin its withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements. The Israeli Defence Ministry, meanwhile, said it wants to complete the withdrawal from Gaza and the northern West Bank already by September. 4, rather than in mid-September, the original target date.

Also today, a private economic foundation bought most of the greenhouses in Gaza settlements, and will hand them over to the Palestinians, said Yossi Beilin, leader of the dovish Israeli Yahad Party. By keeping the greenhouses intact, the Economic Co-operation Foundation can ensure employment for thousands of Palestinians after the pullout, said Beilin, who heads the foundation.

Initially, a US government agency, USAID, had been negotiating with the Gaza settlers to buy the greenhouses. However, the Palestinian Authority has said it would object to the use of government funds for such a deal, because it would be seen as paying compensation to the settlers.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suggested in an interview published today that Israel could eventually relinquish more West Bank settlements. He reiterated, however, that Israel would keep major West Bank settlement blocs in any peace deal. “Not everything will be there. The issue will be raised during the final status talks with the Palestinians,” Sharon told the Yediot Ahronot newspaper.

Sharon said he is convinced the withdrawal from Gaza will benefit Israel in the long-run.

“I have no regrets,” he told Yediot. “Even if I had known the level of (settler) resistance, I would have done it.”

When Sharon decided more than a year ago to quit Gaza, captured 38 years ago, he reasoned that would make it easier for Israel to hold on to the major West Bank settlement blocs, where most of the 240,000 settlers live.

In all, 9,000 settlers are to be uprooted.

Within Gaza, there were conflicting signs of the impending evacuation deadline. At the largest Gaza settlement, Neve Dekalim, supermarket shelves were half-empty, with basic supplies such as oil, flour and eggs all but cleaned out. A nearby clothing store was advertising a huge sale. But a fully stocked toy and stationery store was charging full prices.

Settler leaders said they would send thousands toward Gaza next week in an attempt to reinforce the resistance. Today, the military estimated that 3,000 non-residents have entered Gaza in recent months to make things more difficult for evacuating forces. Earlier this week, it put the number at 2,000.

The Palestinian Authority is anxious for a smooth handover that would prove its ability to control volatile Gaza after the Israelis depart. Militant factions, however, are trying to create the impression that they are driving out the Israelis by force, and have been firing rockets and mortars at Gaza settlements and nearby Israeli towns daily.

In Gaza early today, about 1,000 armed and masked Hamas militants trained to infiltrate and attack Jewish settlements. It wasn’t clear whether this signalled an intent by the militant group to fire on settlers and evacuation forces during the impending pullout.