TEL AVIV, 5 August 2005 — Israeli police detained 442 people overnight and early yesterday, as opponents of the upcoming Gaza Strip pullout intensified their efforts to reach Gaza settlements to reinforce them ahead of the withdrawal.
A police spokesman said some of those detained had been released by late yesterday afternoon, while others were being questioned.
Thousands more pullout opponents were foiled in their attempts to reach the Gaza settlements Wednesday night and had been forced to spend the night at a junction about 1.5 kilometers west of the town Ofakim, east of the Strip, after large numbers of police and soldiers blocked their way.
They made their way back to Ofakim — where they had attended an anti-pullout rally Wednesday night and while some went home, others stayed in the blue-collar town, which lies about 20 kilometers east of the Strip and is a convenient jumping off point for the Kissufim crossing, the Gaza entry point nearest to the Gush Katif settlement block.
Settler leaders met in Ofakim yesterday afternoon to plan their next step, and it was expected that another attempt would be made to reach the Strip last night, perhaps by taking vehicles along unmarked paths.
Settler officials have instructed as many protestors as possible to infiltrate the Strip and take refuge with the settlers and yesterday morning police confirmed settler claims that around 200 had in fact done so Wednesday night. Many of them managed to reach the northern Gaza Strip settlement of Nissanit, and police and soldiers were forced to go from house to house in an effort to track them down and remove them.
Police spokesman Avi Zelba said the pullout opponents had a permit to demonstrate in Ofakim only until noon today.
The army last month declared the Strip off limits to Israeli non-residents, after fears that pullout opponents would enter the settlements en-masse in order to complicate the job of the police and soldiers tasked with carrying out the evacuation.
Settler leaders and their supporters have vowed to do what they can to complicate, even torpedo, the pullout, which is due to begin in mid-August and will see Israel evacuate all 21 of its Gaza Strip settlements, as well as four isolated ones in the northern West Bank.
However despite the increasingly angry protests among the group which once constituted his most ardent supporters, Premier Ariel Sharon has insisted the pullout will go ahead.
James Wolfonsohn, the special envoy of the so-called Quartet (The United States, Russia, the United Nations and the European Union) overseeing the withdrawal, said yesterday Israel and the Palestinians were close to signing an agreement in principle on all issues related to the withdrawal.
Palestinians Wary of Israeli Designs on West Bank
Thousands of Palestinians rallied in Gaza yesterday to celebrate the imminent departure of Jewish settlers from the territory as Israel sought to cement its presence in the occupied West Bank.
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei told a crowd of around 10,000 people gathered outside Parliament that the withdrawal from Gaza would be the first step towards the creation of their promised future state, including the whole of the West Bank with east Jerusalem as its capital.
But as Qorei spoke of his vision of independence, Israel’s Housing Ministry said it had issued tenders for scores of new houses in the West Bank, in direct contravention of a peace plan that targets the creation of a Palestinian state.
“This Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the northern West Bank is a first step on our journey to Jerusalem and the whole of the West Bank,” said Qorei.
“There is no way that this Israeli move can be a final move. It must be the first step.” His comments were echoed by Jordan’s King Abdullah II during talks in Amman with Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz who briefed him on the withdrawal.
“The Gaza pullout must be a prelude to a withdrawal from the West Bank and the creation of a viable state,” said the king who also emphasized the need to “ensure the success of the peace process after the Gaza pullout.” Banners and placards displayed by the crowds in Gaza sought to portray the Israeli departure as a victory for the Palestinians.
But while Palestinians have welcomed the prospect of withdrawals from any part of the occupied territories, they are wary that Prime Minister Sharon wants to use the Gaza pullout to entrench Israel’s presence in the West Bank.
Kamal Ashrafi, head of a committee formed to celebrate the pullout, said pressure for further withdrawals was essential.
“We are saying to the world: ‘Gaza is the first step to the liberation of all of our land’,” he told the rally.
Sharon is particularly keen to cement control around Jerusalem, the city which he regards as the undivided capital of the Jewish state but where the Palestinians also want to establish their capital.
An illustration of that strategy came with an announcement that tenders had been issued for 72 new houses at a settlement just south of Jerusalem.
“We have issued appeals for 72 housing units in Beitar Ilit,” Kobi Bleich told AFP.
The Palestinians promptly condemned the plan, with chief negotiator Saeb Erakat warning it would undermine efforts to revive the peace process.
“We condemn this Israeli decision to expand the settlements and to intensify settlement activity in Jerusalem which could wreck the peace process and destroy any possibility of relaunching negotiations on a final status agreement,” he said.
