Israeli army to be out of Gaza by mid-September

JERUSALEM - Israeli military forces are expected to be out of Gaza in mid-September, completing a pullout from the territory after 38 years of occupation, Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz said.

Israel finished removing 15,000 settlers and supporters from Gaza and some of the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, two weeks ahead of schedule, under Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to "disengage" from conflict with Palestinians seeking statehood.

US-led mediators hope the pullout will jumpstart a Middle East "road map" peace process. But Sharon says Israel will never cede larger West Bank settlements while Palestinian leaders lack control over militant groups opposed to peacemaking.

Fears of fierce resistance to evacuation by settlers proved overblown as Israeli forces emptied 21 settlements in Gaza and two in the West Bank in just one week -- the first uprooting of Jewish enclaves on land Palestinians want for a state.

"The evacuation was conducted honourably and within a shorter timetable than anticipated. We planned three weeks. But 50 to 60 per cent (of settlers) had already left. This accelerated the pace of evacuations from the outset," Mofaz said on army Radio.

All that remained was to complete demolitions of some 1700 homes, dismantle army bases and pull out troops from Gaza.

"I don't think we will complete the disengagement process before the middle of September, (but) perhaps we will complete it a few days ahead of time," Mofaz said.

All of Gaza would then come under Palestinian rule, although Israel intends to keep control the coastal strip's air space and sea lanes. Israel will also raze synagogues in Gaza but leave the infrastructure of the settlements intact for Palestinians.

Unlike in Gaza, Israeli troops will remain in a northern pocket of the West Bank where security forces on Wednesday ousted some 1000 radical Jews making last stands against the evacuation of the Homesh and Sanur settlements.

Settlers in two other northern West Bank enclaves left voluntarily earlier this year.

As part of the Gaza pullout, Israel and Egypt have finalised a deal for Cairo to replace Israeli troops along its border with Gaza with 750 special police to prevent arms smuggling to Palestinian militants, an Israeli official said on Wednesday.

A senior Israeli defence ministry source said an understanding had also been reached with Cairo that Egypt would not supply weapons or ammunition to Gaza without Israeli consent. Egyptian officials had no immediate comment.

The Palestinian Authority of President Mahmoud Abbas has said occupation will not end in Gaza until it gains complete control over trade and travel in and out of the territory.

Israel is loath to give up all external powers over Gaza until Abbas demonstrably reins in militant factions.

US President George W Bush congratulated Sharon over the rapid pullout and called on Tuesday for a return to the international road map plan providing for a Palestinian state in Gaza and the West Bank alongside a secure Israel.

"This is a very hopeful period. Again I applaud Prime Minister Sharon for making a decision that has really changed the dynamics on the ground," Bush said.

The World Court has ruled all Israeli settlements in Gaza and the West Bank are illegal. Israel disputes this.

Palestinians welcomed the pullout but want Israel to hand over all of the West Bank and Arab East Jerusalem for their capital. Israel took both along with Gaza in a 1967 war.

But Sharon, citing strategic necessity, says Israel must retain larger West Bank settlements in what would be the heartland of the Palestinians' desired state.

Palestinian militants have feted the pullout as a victory. Israeli rightists, including many in Sharon's Likud party, condemned the pullout, saying it rewarded a Palestinian revolt.

A poll published by the Haaretz daily on Wednesday found that Sharon's main Likud rival, pullout foe Benjamin Netanyahu, would topple Sharon as party leader with 47 per cent of the vote to 30 per cent if a Likud primary were held now.

The next general election will be held in 2006.

- REUTERS