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10 000 to evict Gaza settlers
17/08/2005 06:46 - (SA)
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| Settlers dance in front of the synagogue in the Jewish settlement of Kfar Darom in the Gaza Strip. (Baz Ratner, AP) |
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Neve Dekalim Settlement, Gaza Strip - Around 10 000 police and soldiers are expected to take part in an imminent operation on Wednesday to evict settlers from the largest settlement in the Gaza Strip, police said.
"We are expecting in the region of 10 000 police and army any time," Superintendent Avi Zelba told AFP at the settlement of Neve Dekalim.
Hundreds of members of the security services are already in place in Neve Dekalim after a midnight deadline passed for the settlers to leave voluntarily or face eviction.
Security forces being bussed in
An AFP correspondent at the Kissufim border crossing into the Gaza settlements reported seeing several police and army coaches heading into the territory, some of which were empty, along with a number of jeeps and ambulances.
Although many Neve Dekalim residents have left of their own accord, the settlement's population has been swelled by the presidence of hundreds of other right-wing activists who live outside, despite the area's closed military status for several weeks.
'Sensitivity and professionalism'
Zelba said that police would make a distinction between residents and outsiders.
"We make the distinction between residents of Neve Dekalim and those staying here illegally," he said.
"We will deal with residents with maximum sensitivity and professionalism. The others will be simply taken out to a remand centre in Beersheva" in southern Israel, he added.
- AFP
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