** Israeli gunman kills three W. Bank Palestinians **
var byString = ""; var sourceString = "CTV.ca News Staff"; if ((sourceString != "") && (byString != "")) { document.write(byString + ", "); } else { document.write(byString); } CTV.ca News Staff
Israel's withdrawal from settlements turned deadly today, when an Israeli gunman in the West Bank settlement of Shilo opened fire on Palestinians.
There are reports the man grabbed a gun from a security guard, then started shooting at nearby Palestinians. Three people were killed and another two wounded. The man has been arrested.
The incident comes the same day that approximately 14,000 Israeli troops began enforcing the forcible evictions of settlers in the Gaza Strip who are defying orders to voluntarily withdraw.
Many settlers have resisted, kicking and screaming as they were loaded onto buses by soldiers following Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s strict orders.
One woman in the largest Gaza settlement of Neve Dekalim yelled: “I don’t want to, I don’t want to,” as she was forcibly dragged away.
At Kfar Darom, which is facing evacuation in coming days, several hundred settlers broke out of the hardline settlement.
Israeli troops arrived after the inhabitants shoved large cinderblocks off a bridge and tried to torch a nearby Arab house, according to eyewitness accounts.
The army brought the fire under control and tried to push the settlers back into Kfar Darom.
Meanwhile, near the southern Israeli town of Netivot, a woman at a roadblock set herself on fire – an apparent protest against the forced evacuation. According to reports, she was carrying a sign that said Sharon should be put before a military court. Police said the unidentified Israeli woman has been taken to hospital in serious condition.
Later on Wednesday, troops entered Gaza’s largest synagogue to remove an estimated 1,000 worshippers who had formed a human chain at the site.
Despite some resistance, correspondents are reporting that troops have been getting on with the job.
About half of the 8,500 families in Gaza’s 21 Jewish settlements had left voluntarily by the legal deadline of midnight (4 p.m. ET Tuesday). By Wednesday morning, about one-third of the population remained in Gaza.
Residents who refused to leave by the deadline faced forcible removal and the loss of up to one-third of government compensation.
The army plans to clear out the southern half of Gush Katif, the main bloc of Gaza settlements, on Wednesday, said Col. Israel Ziv.
Officials have said the goal is to clear out all the settlements in a few days, a shorter period of time than originally planned.
Tearful embraces
Though there were scenes of angry resistance, there were also tender moments between troops and settlers.
“We are seeing soldiers trying to keep their resolve, trying to deal with people individually, doing so in a way that is humane, but also knowing that they have to follow through on these orders,” CTV’s Middle East bureau chief Janis Mackey Frayer reported from Gaza, where she is watching the developments.
**One commander of a small army unit, identified only as Yitzhak, tearfully embraced a settler in Neve Dekalim. “It’s not easy. These are very special people,” he told The Associated Press. “But we have a mission and we will carry it out, and I think these people understand that.”
Meanwhile, Sharon called the pullout “heartbreaking” as he kept an eye on the unfolding developments. “It’s impossible to watch this, and that includes myself, without tears in the eyes,” he said in a televised address. “My heart is broken when I see these things.”**
Sharon also appealed to evacuation opponents not to take their anger out on the troops. “Attack me, I am responsible for this, attack me, accuse me, don’t attack the men and women in uniform,” he said.
While Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Mark Regev called the pullout a “real tragedy,” he said the evacuation was necessary for the good of all Israelis.
“The feeling is that for the good of the country, this is a price that has to be paid,” Regev said, appearing on CTV’s Canada AM.
“That by pulling out of Gaza, we create a better situation for all Israelis,” he said.
In other developments on Wednesday:
- In one outpost of fierce resistance, Kfar Darom, 65 families and 2,000 protesters barricaded themselves behind barbed wire, but said they wouldn’t resist violently, the Haaretz newspaper reported.
- In Netzer Hazani, inhabitants asked for a 24-hour delay in the evacuation and were negotiating with government officials.
- There were conflicting reports on whether residents of Netzarim have reached an agreement with the military to leave voluntarily next Monday.
The settlers and protesters most fiercely opposed to the withdrawal say they believe the Jews were promised the land by God.
However, a narrow majority of the Israeli public supports the withdrawal.
While some Palestinians are celebrating the evacuations, it could be at least a month before Israel actually returns any land to their control.
First, the Israeli army will use heavy equipment to demolish the settlements and then remove the rubble.
There are 1.37 million Palestinians living in Gaza, and they want to build high-density housing to ease some of the current horrible over-crowding.
About 92,000 Jewish settlers live in the West Bank. There were between 7,000 and 9,000 settlers in Gaza.
The disengagement plan will see also four West Bank settlements dismantled – and others strengthened.
Israel captured both the West Bank and Gaza in the 1967 war. Israel has never before pulled out of territory that the Palestinians claim as part of their own state.
what the hell guard was doing? someone who can’t even guard his own gun how can u expect him to guard other? thats really pathetic. i believe he was part of the plan to let the settler vent his anger on innocent palestinians.
also read the parts in bold carefully. some very interesting point are there.