Israelis extract diehards from Gaza synagogue

GADID, Gaza Strip - Israeli troops pushed through burning barricades and dragged screaming protesters from a settlement synagogue on Friday in an assault on one of the last pockets of resistance to evacuation from the Gaza Strip.

Diehard Jewish settlers took to rooftops in the tiny Gadid enclave shouting "Nazis" as security forces swept in and cleared another of Gaza's main anti-pullout strongholds to break the back of opposition to ending 38 years of occupation.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, addressing a cheering crowd in the southern Gaza Strip, called the first evacuation of settlements from land Palestinians want for a state a time of "great joy".

"This pullout was the result of the sacrifices, patience and wisdom of our people," he said. "The more important step after the withdrawal will be how we protect, rebuild ... and administer this land so we can set an example for the world."

More than 80 per cent of Gaza's 8500 Israeli settlers have been evacuated under Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's "disengagement plan", and officials said they were far ahead of schedule since beginning forcible removals on Wednesday.

Buoyed by the latest poll confirming solid support in Israel for the evacuation of all 21 settlements in Gaza and four of 120 in the West Bank, Israeli authorities formally declared Gadid empty before the start of the Jewish Sabbath at sundown.

The army suspended settlement operations for the Jewish rest day, which ends on Saturday evening.

Some 3.8 million Palestinians live in Gaza and the West Bank.

Palestinians welcome the removal of the Gaza settlers and another 500 from the West Bank, but fear Israel aims to keep most of the other settlements housing 230,000 settlers forever.

The World Court calls the settlements illegal. Israel disputes this.

In what has become a familiar scene this week, unarmed riot troops marched past flaming cars and surrounded Gadid's synagogue before forcing their in and removing some 90 protesters, mainly radical youths who locked themselves inside.

Some youngsters prayed. Others cried or shouted abuse.

"This is a desecration of everything that is sacred to Jews," said Boaz Puterel, 30, echoing the belief of ultranationalist Israelis that the Gaza Strip is part of God's gift to the Jewish people and should never be relinquished.

Eight of those removed from Gadid escaped from a bus taking them to Israel and fled into the Israeli-controlled Palestinian enclave of al-Muwasi in the Gaza Strip, an army spokeswoman said, revising earlier information that dozens had bolted.

Israeli soldiers gave chase and caught them, she said.

With 17 Gaza enclaves clear of settlers, troops plan to begin evacuating two small West Bank settlements on Tuesday in a 24-hour operation, a security source said. That would complete removal of all 9000 settlers under Sharon's plan.

However, Sanur and Homesh, built on territory where many religious Jews feel an even closer biblical bond than in Gaza, are seen as potential flashpoints because of an influx of rightist Israelis from the most radical West Bank settlements.

Evacuation forces were expected to begin massing over the weekend in the northern West Bank, where two other mostly secular enclaves have already emptied out voluntarily.

On Thursday, troops seized control of synagogues in Neve Dekalim, the biggest Gaza settlement, and in Kfar Darom, scene of frenzied clashes.

Along with a hard core of settlers, hundreds of rightists who had infiltrated settlements have been expelled.

The army said it had begun digging trenches around evacuated settlements in Gaza to prevent Palestinians celebrating the pullout from entering the enclaves, where settler homes are to be demolished under a deal with the Palestinian Authority.

Opponents of the pullout call it a victory for Palestinian militants, a view echoed by the gunmen themselves.

Some mainstream Israelis believe anti-pullout forces are trying to make the process as traumatic as possible so the government will not try to give up bigger settlements in the West Bank, also built on occupied land the Palestinians want.

- REUTERS