The Israeli government is considering moving up its withdrawal from the Gaza Strip next month, senior government officials said yesterday, after a three-day mass protest against the pullout tied up tens of thousands of security forces.
Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's point man on the Gaza evacuation, said he would favorably consider moving up the pullout in light of the protest. Israel sent 20,000 police and soldiers to block the protesters from marching to the Gaza settlements to reinforce the settlers there.
"This confrontation saps a great deal of energy, disrupts the lives of all of the country's residents, doesn't lead to any advantage. So I would definitely weigh [an earlier withdrawal] favorably," Olmert told Israel Radio.
PHOTO: AP
Israeli officials might discuss moving up the pullout with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who was due to arrive in the region later yesterday, according to another senior government official who spoke on condition of anonymity because no decisions have been made.
The evacuation originally was to have begun in the middle of this month, but was pushed back to the middle of next month, ostensibly out of consideration for the religious Jews observing a three-week mourning period -- beginning Sunday -- for the destruction of the biblical Jewish Temples. Critics said the pullout was delayed because the government was far behind in its preparations.
If pullout opponents "think these are appropriate days for protest ... I don't think the government has to act differently," Olmert said.
The senior official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there were no legal obstacles to moving up the pullout and that the matter would be discussed by Israeli officials, and possibly with Rice. But the lack of legal barriers doesn't mean the withdrawal will be moved up, he said.
"Legally, there is no problem. But there are other problems -- logistic problems, coordination [with the Palestinians], evaluation of the situation to minimize friction, and Palestinian terror," the official said.
The standoff between security forces and pullout opponents began on Monday after as many as 30,000 protesters converged on the southern Israeli farming village of Kfar Maimon with the goal of marching into nearby Gaza, defying a government order banning non-residents from entering.
But with rings of soldiers and police preventing them from leaving for the Gaza settlements, where they had hoped to reinforce the thousands of settlers living there and make the pullout more complex, pullout opponents gave up their protest.
By yesterday morning, only an estimated 1,000 to 2,000 remained, police spokesman Avi Zelba said.
The fizzled protest was a severe setback for the settlement movement, but settler leader Bentsi Lieberman said early yesterday that withdrawal opponents would infiltrate Gaza "little by little" instead of in a mass march.
Scores of pullout opponents have been quietly smuggled into Gaza's Gush Katif settlement bloc in the middle of the night in recent days and have been moving into new protest tent camps. The Haaretz newspaper reported yesterday that 600 pullout opponents made it into Gaza since the area was declared a closed military zone last week.
"[The] battle will continue in one format or another," settler leader Pinchas Wallerstein told Israel Radio.
"We won't stop for a minute trying to get into Gush Katif," Wallerstein said.
Zelba said 250 anti-pullout activists were arrested overnight -- most for trying to breach the closed military zone, and a few for trying to cut the fence around the territory.
Seven people sustained mostly minor injuries in an airplane fire in South Korea, authorities said yesterday, with local media suggesting the blaze might have been caused by a portable battery stored in the overhead bin. The Air Busan plane, an Airbus A321, was set to fly to Hong Kong from Gimhae International Airport in southeastern Busan, but caught fire in the rear section on Tuesday night, the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said. A total of 169 passengers and seven flight attendants and staff were evacuated down inflatable slides, it said. Authorities initially reported three injuries, but revised the number
‘BALD-FACED LIE’: The woman is accused of administering non-prescribed drugs to the one-year-old and filmed the toddler’s distress to solicit donations online A social media influencer accused of filming the torture of her baby to gain money allegedly manufactured symptoms causing the toddler to have brain surgery, a magistrate has heard. The 34-year-old Queensland woman is charged with torturing an infant and posting videos of the little girl online to build a social media following and solicit donations. A decision on her bail application in a Brisbane court was yesterday postponed after the magistrate opted to take more time before making a decision in an effort “not to be overwhelmed” by the nature of allegations “so offensive to right-thinking people.” The Sunshine Coast woman —
BORDER SERVICES: With the US-funded International Rescue Committee telling clinics to shut by tomorrow, Burmese refugees face sudden discharge from Thai hospitals Healthcare centers serving tens of thousands of refugees on the Thai-Myanmar border have been ordered shut after US President Donald Trump froze most foreign aid last week, forcing Thai officials to transport the sickest patients to other facilities. The International Rescue Committee (IRC), which funds the clinics with US support, told the facilities to shut by tomorrow, a local official and two camp committee members said. The IRC did not respond to a request for comment. Trump last week paused development assistance from the US Agency for International Development for 90 days to assess compatibility with his “America First” policy. The freeze has thrown
PINEAPPLE DEBATE: While the owners of the pizzeria dislike pineapple on pizza, a survey last year showed that over 50% of Britons either love or like the topping A trendy pizzeria in the English city of Norwich has declared war on pineapples, charging an eye-watering ￡100 (US$124) for a Hawaiian in a bid to put customers off the disputed topping. Lupa Pizza recently added pizza topped with ham and pineapple to its account on a food delivery app, writing in the description: “Yeah, for ￡100 you can have it. Order the champagne too! Go on, you monster!” “[We] vehemently dislike pineapple on pizza,” Lupa co-owner Francis Wolf said. “We feel like it doesn’t suit pizza at all,” he said. The other co-owner, head chef Quin Jianoran, said they kept tinned pineapple
RSS