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Gaza settlers prepare to resist pullout

NEVE DEKALIM, Gaza Strip - Jewish settlers in Gaza have collected hundreds of tents and are stockpiling food for thousands of supporters they expect to arrive in coming days to help resist this summer's evacuation.

An Associated Press reporter saw piles of hundreds of tents, sleeping bags and cans of food in a Gaza warehouse Wednesday, and settlers said more is on the way.

Removal of the 21 settlements from Gaza and four from the West Bank is shaping up as a traumatic social episode in Israel's history. There are warnings of opposition, even armed resistance, against thousands of police and soldiers who are to take down veteran settlements in those territories for the first time.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, winding up a visit to the United States, told NBC News this week that the atmosphere around the pullout "looks like the eve of the civil war."

On Wednesday, Sharon told CNN that he favored leaving the buildings in the settlements intact after the pullout, but that that depended on coordination with the Palestinians, which had not started yet.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Nasser Al Kidwa complained to CNN that Israel had not given the Palestinians information about the buildings, adding, "There should be no reward for any of the assets, because they were established illegally."

Settlers expect huge crowds to gather in Gaza to show solidarity during the weeklong Jewish holiday of Passover this month - and organizers are preparing for many of them to stay and oppose the evacuation, set for July.

The army says it has no intention of stopping the influx, even though the presence of thousands of protesters would further complicate the operation. There are plans to close the area in the weeks before the pullout.

Settler spokesman Eran Sternberg said organizers hope to bring 100,000 supporters to Gush Katif, the main Gaza settlement bloc, for Passover. He said police have issued permits for the gatherings, including concerts and marches.

Preparing for the friendly invasion, Gaza settler activist Datya Yitzhaki said she and her husband Arye have set up a "war room." An inspection of the warehouse showed hundreds of tents, parachute material and piles of canned food.

Arye Yitzhaki said the plan is to "pitch a tent in every back yard in Gush Katif." They said they expected hundreds of families and youths to stay in Gaza after the holiday.

In the West Bank village of Tsurif near Hebron on Wednesday, dozens of Palestinians surrounded an overturned Israeli army jeep and threw stones at trapped soldiers who fired tear gas, rubber bullets and live rounds, witnesses and the military said. Five Palestinians were hurt, including two by shots to the legs.

[Last modified April 14, 2005, 01:17:13]