Forces raid Hotel Disengagement

GUSH KATIF - (Video) Police raided a hotel in a Gaza settlement on Thursday to remove a group of right-wingers who had taken refuge there in recent weeks and who security sources suspected had planned attacks to protest against Israel's Gaza withdrawal, hours after Israel sealed off the Gaza Strip to non-residents.

Forces broke into the building with hammers and dragged the inhabitants, including women and youngsters, outside by their arms and legs, kicking and screaming "Jews don't expel Jews!" It took about nine policemen to evacuate one settler.

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Other protesters tied themselves to beds with orange ribbons to avoid being evacuated. No one was injured in the raid.

Security sources said the hotel, which residents called "Maoz Yam," had been used as a "command center" for settlers and rightists who had planned attacks to try and scuffle the withdrawal.

"The wild saga by the hooligans, the brutes who were here has ended," said Dan Harel, head of Israel's Southern Command. "We will return to our routine lives and learn from this."

Army seals off Gaza

The move came hours after the army closed off Gaza in a bid to stop non-resident Israelis from fortifying the area ahead of Israel's pullout from all 21 settlements in August and a day after protesters clashed with Palestinians and troops who tried to evacuate them from a structure they seized in a Palestinian town.

The southern commander of the Israeli police, Uri Bar Lev, said the evacuation went "smoothly" and that forces did not encounter much resistance.

"The group looked at first like a force that would be difficult to deal with, but we proved it otherwise."

Forces had arrived at the hotel with eight buses for the evacuated Hotel residents.

"I am crying because Israel has reached a point where a Jewish soldier evacuates Jews," a female settler said without identifying herself.

Southern Commander assaulted

Police arrested a settler after he assaulted Harel while forces evacuated him from the structure.

Forces found a table inside the structure with snacks and water on it and an overhead sign that read: "Those who follow morality and not (Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon, Bon Appetite!"

Right-wing activist Itamar Ben Gvir, who was expelled from Gaza last week on suspicions of inciting violence, said the army and police would not be able to stop "thousands from reaching Gush Katif," ahead of Israel's planned evacuation of all 21 settlements in August.

"The closing of the hotel is a red line that will spark a serious struggle," he said. "If they (close it), we will respond by setting up five more (hotels), by bringing in hundreds of people to the area."

Military sources said protesters of Israel's pullout have already set out and are making their way toward Gaza.