(Video) Break on through: Security forces broke through the main gate of the Neve Dekalim settlement in Gush Katif
as dawn broke Tuesday, and started handing out eviction orders to the residents of the largest Gaza Strip settlement.
It took just a few minutes to dismantle the gate, turning one of the main symbols of opposition to no more than a few scraps of metal.
Forces enter Neve Dekalim (Video: Channel 2)
There was no physical opposition to the operation, and hundreds of police and IDF officers flooded the settlement in order to help residents pack their belongings and to maintain public order.
Head of the IDF Southern Command, Maj. Gen. Dan Harel, said 120 moving trucks will enter the community Tuesday in order to remove belongings for residents to request assistance.
“We will help any resident who wants help leaving Gush Katif. But we will not be patient any longer. We have also clarified our position to the opposition leadership," he said.
Hundreds arrested trying to infiltrate
Also Tuesday, right-wing activists are making one last effort to infiltrate the area, which has been declared a closed military zone, on the last day before security forces are due to remove residents and protesters from Gaza by force.
Soldiers break down gate (Photo: AFP)
A large force of police, border police and IDF soldiers has been deployed in six “rings” around southern Israel and are hunting down potential infiltrators near the Israel-Gaza border.
Some 500 detainees were brought overnight to the temporary police station at the Kissufim Crossing, and another 250, including Yesha Council leader Benzi Lieberman and Binyamin Regional Council Head Pinchas Wallerstein, were prevented from entering the Crossing compound.
Police also detained Tzviki Bar-Hai, head of the South Mount Hebron Regional Council, and Ze’ev Haver, secretary of the Amana organization, on charges they tried to infiltrate Gush Katif.
Singing through the night
“You’re all corrupt,” screamed one arrestee. “God will pay you back for this.”
As in Neve Dekalim, detainees who filled buses and transit vehicles at the Crossing sang through the night, singing, “The eternal people is not afraid of a long road.”
Most of those arrested will be interrogated at the temporary station at Kissufim, and only a few are expected to appear before in court to have their remands extended.
Ambushed and arrested
“Nothing can stop us. One way or another, we will get to Gush Katif,” said one woman in her fifties from the West Bank settlement of Eli.
Anti-pullout demonstration, Monday (Photo: Gadi Kabalo)
“We left home at 1 a.m. and traveled on back roads to get here. We saw a ton of other cars decked out in orange on their way here.
“The police ambushed us here at Kissufim and arrested us, but with God’s help, we’ll find a way to get to Gush Katif and stop this criminal action,” she said.
First published: 07:44, 08.16.5