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Palestinians celebrate the burning of a shul following the IDF withdrawal from the former Jewish settlement of Netzarim, early Monday. (AP)
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| By israelinsider staff and partners September 12, 2005 |
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| Palestinians burn the synagogue at Netzarim. (AP) |
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Thousands of triumphant Palestinians poured into abandoned Jewish settlements early Monday, setting empty synagogues on fire and shooting in the air, as the last Israeli soldier rolled out of the Gaza Strip, completing the Israeli pullout from the territory after a 38-year presence.
Palestinian police stood by helplessly as gunmen raised flags of terrorist groups in the settlements and crowds smashed what was left in the ruins or walked off with doors, window frames, toilets, and scrap metal. Initial plans by Palestinian police to bar the crowds from the settlements for the first few hours quickly disintegrated, illustrating the weakness of the Palestinian security forces and concerns about growing chaos after Israel's departure.
Gaza's night sky turned orange as fires roared across the settlements. Women ululated, teens set off fireworks and crowds chanted "God is great".
Just after sunrise, the last column of tanks rumbled out of Gaza, passing through the Kissufim crossing into Israel. Gaza commander Brig. Gen. Aviv Kochavi drove through the crossing and became the last Israeli soldier to leave.
"The mission has been completed, and an era has ended," he said after crossing into Israel. Then Israeli troops raised their national flag, removed from Gaza military headquarters, on the Israeli side of coastal strip.
As Israel completed its pullout, Palestinian Jeeps decorated with the flags of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist groups stopped just near the border and a group of masked gunmen waved their weapons before Palestinian police began moving them away.
"Today is a day of joy and happiness that our people were deprived of in the past century," said Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, adding that the Palestinians still have a long path toward statehood. He denounced Israeli rule in Gaza as "aggression, injustice, humiliation, killing and settlement activity."
Just before daybreak, Abbas was heading to what was once the largest Jewish settlement, Neve Dekalim, his aides said. However, aides later said he was forced to turn back because of huge traffic jams.
Israel's pullout marks the first time the Palestinians will have control over a defined territory, and Gaza is seen as a testing ground for Palestinian aspirations of statehood.
Palestinians hope to build their state in Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem -- areas that Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast War -- but fear that Israel will not hand over additional territory. They say Israel's occupation of Gaza has not ended because it retains control over borders (with Israel) and air space.
Israel removed some 8,500 Gaza settlers from their homes in 21 settlements last month, and razed homes and most buildings in the communities. However, the Israeli Cabinet decided at the last minute Sunday to leave 19 synagogue buildings intact, drawing complaints from the Palestinians and criticism from the United States.
After rushing into the settlements early Monday, Palestinians set fire to three empty synagogues, in the Morag, Kfar Darom and Netzarim settlements, as well as a Jewish seminary in Neve Dekalim. In Netzarim, two young Palestinians waving flags stomped on the smoldering debris outside the synagogue, and others took turns hitting the building with a large hammer.
Palestinian police appeared overwhelmed, watching the destruction from the sidelines. Police Col. Abdel Khader Abu Tayr said police didn't have enough time to deploy because Israeli troops left without sufficient warning. "Now we are expending every effort to kick the people out and protect the buildings," Abu Tayr said.
In the Neve Dekalim settlement, 22-year-old Abdel Rahman Barakat rode his bicycle through the streets, amazed at the space the settlers had enjoyed. "Oh my God, I feel so comfortable here," he said. "It (the settlement) is very wide, it's very big."
In northern Gaza, university student Rami Rayan walked toward the abandoned settlement of Elei Sinai, where he said a cousin carried out a suicide bombing five years ago. "I want to feel that his blood wasn't spilled in vain," Rayan said, as he picked up bullet casings as souvenirs. "They (the Israelis) left because of resistance," Rayan said.
Some 5,000 Israeli troops left in Gaza began driving toward Israel before dawn Monday, and the last Israeli soldier was out just after daybreak.
Two tanks broke down because of mechanical problems, and troops waited for huge tow trucks to arrive. Soldiers fired in the air to prevent Palestinians from approaching.
After the pullout was completed, Maj. Gen. Dan Harel, head of Israel's southern command, pointed toward the horizon and told the AP, "It's a very strange feeling, almost unreal. I have a lot of memories from that place, a lot of friends who died."
"The responsibility is of the Palestinian Authority," he told reporters a few minutes later as Hamas and Islamic Jihad supporters gathered a few hundred meters behind him. "We hope that they will rise to the responsibility, and enable all of us to live in peace and security."
Late Sunday, Israeli troops lowered their national banner in Neve Dekalim, snapped farewell pictures and closed army headquarters, which were left intact for use by the Palestinians.
In a somber farewell ceremony, Kochavi, the Gaza commander, expressed hope the pullout would be a step toward peace.
"The gate that will close behind us is also the gate that will open," he said. "We hope it will be a gate of peace and quiet, a gate of hope and goodwill, a gate of neighborliness."
But he added a threat: "If a bad wind breaks through, then we will greet it with a force of troops ready and waiting."
A field commander, Lt. Col. Tzvika Tzoran, sat on the turret of a tank on an isolated sand dune in his final moments in Gaza, bidding farewell to the Mediterranean coastline. Other soldiers took pride in the orderly withdrawal, in contrast to a hasty retreat from southern Lebanon five years ago.
But the withdrawal, code-named "Last Watch," was overshadowed by Israeli-Palestinian disputes, including over border arrangements. The army was forced to cancel a formal handover ceremony, initially set for Sunday, after angry Palestinians said they wouldn't show up.
The final phase of the pull began Sunday with twin decisions in the Israeli Cabinet _ to end military rule in Gaza and not to raze 19 synagogues in former Jewish settlements there.
The last-minute decision to leave the synagogue buildings intact, a reversal of position, angered the Palestinians who said they would now be forced to demolish the buildings. In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the Israeli Cabinet decision "puts the Palestinian Authority into a situation where it may be criticized for whatever it does."
When settlers left Gaza, they took with them the sacred Torah scrolls and the other holy items from the synagogues.
The Palestinians want full control over the Gaza-Egypt border after Israel's withdrawal, saying free movement of people and goods is essential for rebuilding Gaza's shattered economy.
Israel wants to retain some control, at least temporarily, fearing that terrorists will smuggle weapons into Gaza, as they have done on many occaisons before.
Israel last week unilaterally closed the Rafah border crossing.
Last week, Israel agreed in principle that foreign observers could eventually replace Israeli inspectors at Rafah. However, Israel said it could be months before the border reopens, and that a final deal would depend on Palestinian willingness to crack down on terrorist groups.
In the meantime, it plans to reroute border traffic through alternate Israeli-controlled crossings and turn over security control of the border to Egyptian forces, 750 of whom deployed at the border over the weekend.
The AP contributed to this report.
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