Israeli security forces had to sneak into the back of the Gaza Strip's largest settlement to hand out eviction notices to defiant residents yesterday after protestors initially prompted them to freeze the operation, military sources said.
A few hours after officials, confronted by locked gates at the settlement's entrance, announced they would not force their way into Neve Dekalim, a joint force of troops and police managed to maneuver their way in through the back.
"A portion of soldiers did succeed in entering the community through the back," a military source told reporters on condition of anonymity. "The notices have started going out," she added.
Army officers were handing out the notices to the heads of households along with police officers, the source added.
"There have not been reports of any resistance from the residents in their homes so far," she said.
A military official told reporters that the forces had managed to enter Neve Dekalim through the industrial zone after being confronted with a mass show of defiance at the entrance.
Police spokesman Superintendent Eli Levi said earlier that the security forces would not force their way in.
"We are not going to enter the settlement. They have two days to evacuate of their free own will but at midnight [today], it's the end," he told reporters.
Black smoke from burning tires curled into the air as scores of settlers linked arms and tried to block the troops at the entrance. Scuffles ensued and most of the troops turned back.
Earlier, close to a thousand settlers massed at the main gate singing, praying and calling on soldiers and police to disobey orders in the first sign of active resistance since the official start of the Israeli withdrawal at midnight.
"Soldier, policeman -- refuse the orders," they chanted in unison as around 60 unarmed police clad in black lined up in front of the gate.
The joint police and army operation to hand out the eviction notices in all 21 settlements began at around 7am.
Settler defiance raised its head early yesterday shortly after the official start of the pullout operation at midnight, when hundreds of furious youths began rioting just outside the main gate.
The protesters, most of them adolescents, swarmed on passing vehicles, smashing windows and slashing tires in a rampage which continued until settlement security officials arrived at the scene 40 minutes later.
"This is not what we planned but we cannot control these young people," one of the main leaders of Yesha, Shaul Goldstein, told reporters. "This activity undermines our struggle."
Meanwhile, the Israeli cabinet approved the second stage of the Gaza withdrawal plan, which includes all settlements in the Gush Katif settlement block, yesterday morning, Israel Radio reported.
The vote was 16 ministers in favor and four opposed.
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on Friday expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Saturday. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises is the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” Paparo was quoted by FT as saying while attending the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute in Arizona. Paparo also expressed concern over the speed with which China was expanding its military. While the US
SHIFT: Taiwan’s better-than-expected first-quarter GDP and signs of weakness in the US have driven global capital back to emerging markets, the central bank head said The central bank yesterday blamed market speculation for the steep rise in the local currency, and urged exporters and financial institutions to stay calm and stop panic sell-offs to avoid hurting their own profitability. The nation’s top monetary policymaker said that it would step in, if necessary, to maintain order and stability in the foreign exchange market. The remarks came as the NT dollar yesterday closed up NT$0.919 to NT$30.145 against the US dollar in Taipei trading, after rising as high as NT$29.59 in intraday trading. The local currency has surged 5.85 percent against the greenback over the past two sessions, central
RSS