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A protester is hauled away in an outpost earlier this year. (AP)
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| By Associated Press March 18, 2005 |
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Moving into high gear ahead of the planned summer pullout from the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army on Friday barred Israeli citizens from moving into the area and said it would start trucking out military equipment over the next two weeks.
The Gaza relocation ban, effective immediately, is meant to prevent Jewish settlers opposed to the withdrawal from fulfilling a pledge to bring tens of thousands of supporters to beef up their resistance.
Israel TV quoted settler leaders as saying they considered the decree illegal and planned to ignore it. A military official said on condition of anonymity that there may be no effective way of knowing whether someone who enters the coastal strip leaves at the end of the day.
The military also said that at a later stage it would declare the area a closed military zone, off limits to all nonresidents. A spokeswoman could not say when that ban would go into force, but Haaretz newspaper said it would be in early May.
The Israeli army will begin its part of the pullout by withdrawing nonessential equipment, such as food storage facilities. The idea is "not to keep everything for the last minute," one official said. He said troops and military vehicles would not be included in this stage of the withdrawal.
Israeli officials said plans have already been drawn up to relocate all forces in Gaza to nearby bases in southern Israel. Construction on those bases is expected to begin in the coming days.
The Israeli army began withdrawing nonessential equipment from southern Lebanon about three months before a full withdrawal in 2000. The Gaza pullout is scheduled to begin in July.
About 8,200 Jewish settlers live in heavily guarded enclaves in Gaza, a narrow coastal strip inhabited by about 1.3 million Palestinians.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has said the continued Israeli presence in Gaza is untenable. But settlers have promised stiff resistance to the planned withdrawal, which is scheduled to begin in July.
Settlers have called on their supporters to flood into Gaza ahead of the withdrawal to help thwart the evacuation. While settler leaders have promised only peaceful resistance, Israeli security officials have expressed fears that the opposition could turn violent.
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