Troops Clash With Protesters Aiming To Close Streets
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
SHIRAT HAYAM, Gaza Strip – Jewish settlers holed up in an abandoned villa traded blows with Israeli troops yesterday and then attacked Palestinians Arabs, critically wounding one, before soldiers hauled them away.
The clashes were the worst involving opponents of the August withdrawal since Israel announced its plans to pull out of Gaza.
Prime Minister Sharon called the protesters “hooligans” and vowed to fight them with an “iron fist.” His tough talk reflected concern that protests could pit Israeli against Israeli and lead to bloodshed during the pullout, which marks the first time Israel will remove veteran settlements from Gaza and the West Bank.
Opinion polls show support for the withdrawal stands at about 50%, while opposition is at 38%.
About 9,000 settlers are to be uprooted from all 21 Gaza settlements and four in the West Bank.
A planned nationwide highway protest in Israel fizzled yesterday; police were out in force to keep roads open. Protesters briefly blocked the entrance to Jerusalem, a highway near Tel Aviv, and a Haifa intersection, but the actions were only passing inconveniences for motorists. They did, however, tie up thousands of police, who used a water cannon to disperse protesters at the entrance to Jerusalem.
Earlier, a separate group of demonstrators blocked the main Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway when they threw oil and nails on the road, bringing morning rush-hour traffic to a standstill.
In Gaza, several dozen young settlers, mostly teenagers, broke into an empty Palestinian villa in the al-Mawasi neighborhood next to the Shirat Hayam settlement Monday. They occupied the villa a day after the military tore down 11 derelict buildings nearby because they feared withdrawal opponents would use them as a base for violent resistance.
Trouble began yesterday when the settlers and Palestinian Arab residents began pelting each other with rocks. Violence escalated when soldiers moved in to stop the fight.
Extremist settlers slugged it out with the soldiers, including high-ranking officers, and struggled as soldiers dragged some through the sand to an army vehicle.
Soldiers fired rifles into the air in an attempt to stop the confrontation, but were unable to curb the violence.
