Police chief: Resistance relatively weak

(VIDEO) In most locations, resistance to the evacuation is relatively weak, Police Chief Moshe Karadi said Wednesday while touring the Gaza Strip settlement of Kerem Atzmona.

“We hope dialogue will help,” he said. “Based on the current pace, which as this point is faster than estimated, we’ll finish the evacuation sooner than planned,” he said.

Emotions high in Neve Dekalim (Video: Channel 2)

In the afternoon, forces began clearing families from Neve Dekalim. At 2:30 p.m., the troops arrived at residents’ homes and called on them to leave. The same picture emerged in Kerem Atzmona. So far, the evacuation is progressing quietly.

Meanwhile, the IDF said the evacuation of Tel Katifa has been completed.

IDF Chief-of-Staff Dan Halutz, who toured Neve Dekalim, also expressed his hope for a quick evacuation.

“I don’t want to meddle in professional affairs, but you’ll be finishing up here by this evening, yes?,” he told senior officers in Gaza’s largest settlement.

Head of Operations Branches in the IDF, Major General Yisrael Ziv, is also pleased with the pace of the evacuation.

“We are progressing faster than planned and if there are not extreme incidents, we’ll be able to finish the evacuation considerably sooner than planned,” he said while touring Gush Katif. “Contacts are ongoing with most communities regarding a voluntary evacuation, and forces may continue to carry out the evacuation during the night.”

Rabbi tells students to leave

Meanwhile, Rabbi Shmuel Tal, who heads the “Torah Haim” yeshiva in Neve Dekalim, has instructed his students Wednesday to leave the community voluntarily.

The rabbi, who is in charge of a yeshiva considered to be Gush Katif’s ideological stronghold, told students “those who cannot leave should sit…and wait for soldiers to evacuate him, without any violent resistance.”

Collecting weapons at yeshiva (Photo: Ronny Sofer)

The rabbi’s students responded by breaking into tears, lying on the ground and kissing it. A senior officer involved in negotiations at the yeshiva told Ynet the rabbi and his students did not intend to resort to violence to begin with.

Earlier, more than 10 buses carrying about 300 infiltrators have left the Gaza Strip Wednesday according to official reports, as security forces moved into Gush Katif for the first day of the evacuation.

Despite heartbreaking scenes across Gaza, the evacuation proceeded without exceptional events and was mostly accompanied by oral arguments but no violence, with most clashes reported in the settlements of Neve Dekalim and Morag.

Meanwhile, large forces entered the community of Kerem Atzmona after earlier talks aimed at bringing about a voluntary evacuation failed.

IDF Southern Command sources told Ynet more than 60 percent of families slated for evacuation in the Gaza Strip have already left. More than 50 percent left during the voluntary exit phase, they said.

Police Southern District Commander Uri Bar-Lev told Ynet the evacuation has been progressing according to plan so far, despite the pain involved.

Earlier in the morning, Bar-Lev met with Yesha Council leaders and with IDF Major General Yisrael Ziv. During the session, the sides agreed on further steps to reduce tensions.

Sharon praises settlers

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon spoke Wednesday following a meeting with President Moshe Katsav.

Girl sobs in Neve Dekalim (Photo: Efrat Weiss)

“Despite the terrible difficulties and the images that tear my heart as well, I must say the settlers are conducting themselves in a dignified, restrained manner and are making a very big effort to ensure the evacuation passes quietly,” he said.

“If there are difficult cases, those are youngsters who arrived from the outside,” he said.

The disengagement is one of the most difficult, painful moments in the State of Israel’s history, President Moshe Katsav said.

“According to the reports we received, settlers in the Gaza region are exhibiting great responsibility,” he said. “I laud those rabbis who in the last hours enlisted to calm tensions in order to act for the acceptance of Knesset and government decisions.”

“We have no choice, I don’t know any other way to take decisions except through the Knesset,” he said. “The moment the Knesset has decided, its decisions must be respected, despite the pain."

Ynet reporters in the field:

Efrat Weiss, Neve Dekalim

Ronny Sofer, Neve Dekalim

Ilan Marciano, Neve Dekalim

Yaron Brenner, Neve Dekalim

Hanan Greenberg, Morag

Roee Nahmias, Ganei Tal

Aya Ben-Amos, Morag

Miri Chason, Netzer Hazani

Ahiya Raved, Shirat HaYam

Tani Goldstein, Tel Katifa

Doron Sheffer, Kissufim

Attila Somfalvi, with the forces

Diana Bahur-Nir, Disengagement Authority