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Fight erupts in West Bank as bulldozers raze Gaza homes

NISSANIT, Gaza Strip - Israeli bulldozers tore down red-roofed villas and scattered debris across green lawns Sunday, virtually erasing Jewish settlements within a few hours and delivering a graphic message that Israelis will no longer live in the Gaza Strip.

The demolitions came as the army announced that 20 of the 21 Jewish settlements in Gaza were emptied by Sunday evening.

The final Gaza evacuation was to come today at Netzarim, a community of 400 people south of Gaza City that was one of the first Israeli outposts built in the coastal strip.

Moving more swiftly than planned, officials hope to complete the removal of settlers from Gaza and the northern corner of the West Bank by the end of the week.

In the West Bank, Israeli security forces skirmished with some of the thousands of ultranationalists defending two northern settlements amid fears they may use weapons when troops begin evicting residents, most likely Tuesday.

Dozens of settlers swarmed troops setting up a staging area near the Sanur settlement in the West Bank, slashing tires of military vehicles and exchanging blows with soldiers in a prelude to what could be the most difficult mission of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's "disengagement" plan.

Sharon denounced the violent resisters during a Cabinet meeting that approved the final phase of the pullout. He also accused settler leaders of exploiting the anguish of their people to push their political agenda, delivering his harshest criticism of his onetime allies.

Ten policemen and soldiers suffered light injuries in the melee and two people were arrested.

Military officials cited intelligence reports saying some of the estimated 2,000 extremists who moved into the West Bank settlements of Sanur and Homesh had weapons and might be ready to use them. The army said it was considering using armed troops for the evacuations there, unlike in Gaza where unarmed security forces carried out settlers. Residents of two other small West Bank settlements slated for removal already left their homes voluntarily.

In Gaza, huge D9 bulldozers, many driven by Israeli Arabs, tore down homes in Nissanit, Dugit, Peat Sadeh and Ganei Tal. They needed just five minutes to plow through the whitewashed walls of a home, and reduced entire villages to garbage dumps in less than a day. In Ganei Tal, some 40 houses came down in an hour.

Victor Bargil, a senior Defense Ministry official, said he expected all Gaza houses to be demolished within two weeks - half the time predicted last week by Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz. The army also must dismantle its installations before the Palestinian Authority takes control, probably within the next month.

In other violence Sunday, eight masked Jewish extremists attacked an army tractor in the northern West Bank near Kedumim, a settlement not slated for dismantlement. The attackers slashed the tractor's tires, then set it on fire while a soldier was still in the vehicle, Israeli media reported. The soldier got out and pointed a gun at the attackers who escaped.

Trouble around Kedumim continued sporadically during the day. At one point, settlers poured oil and nails on a road junction. Four policemen and two civilians suffered injuries, and two were arrested, the military said.

In Gaza, the army said a soldier at an army base was lightly wounded by gunfire, the first Israeli casualty from Palestinian fire since the withdrawal began. Palestinian militants generally have held their fire during the pullout, but have occasionally fired rockets, mortar shells or automatic weapons.

[Last modified August 22, 2005, 01:08:08]