World News

Israeli soldiers clear out Gaza strip

NEVE DEKALIM, Gaza strip (AP) - Jewish settlers sobbed and screamed, some of them ripping their shirts in mourning, as Israeli troops dragged them from homes and synagogues Aug. 17 - the beginning of the end of Israel's 38-year occupation of the Gaza Strip

In the West Bank, a settler killed four Palestinian laborers in a shooting rampage, which Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon denounced as a twisted act of "Jewish terror" designed to stop the historic pullout.

despite the escalation of Israeli-Palestinian tensions, the eviction of settlers and their nationalist supporters moved forward more swiftly than anyone anticipated.

Sharon proposed his "disengagement plan" two years ago to ease Israel's security burden by placing Gaza's 1.3 million Palestinians outside Israeli boundaries

Under the plan, Israel will remove all 21 settlements from Gaza and four from the West Bank - the first time it has removed veteran settlements from either area.

Shukan ST: Aug. 26, 2005

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