IDF leaves Gaza after 38 years of military rule

The Israel Defense Forces locked a gate at the Kissufim crossing between Israel and Gaza around 7 A.M. Monday, marking the end to 38 years of Israeli military rule. „The mission has been completed and an era has ended,” said Brig. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, commander of the IDF forces in Gaza, at a brief ceremony. „From now on, the Palestinian Authority bears responsibility for what happens in the Gaza Strip,” he said. „The responsibility for the security of the citizens of the state continues to be all ours.” Just after sunrise, the last column of tanks rumbled out of Gaza, passing through the Kissufim crossing into Israel. Kochavi drove through the crossing and became the last Israeli soldier to leave. Two soldiers in purple berets locked a gate at the border and Kochavi shook their hands. Israeli soldiers then raised the flag, removed from Gaza’s military headquarters, on the Israeli side of the border. Kochavi’s arrival capped a night-long evacuation of the last Israeli soldiers in Gaza, after clearing out the residents of the Strip last month. The convoys began rolling out of the Gaza Strip around 1 A.M. on Monday and flag-waving Palestinian police took over the abandoned positions. Just before 3 A.M., the first IDF tank passed through Kissufim into Israel, and was followed by a long line of IDF armored vehicles. PA takes control of areas cleared by Israelis Palestinian Authority forces, meanwhile, took control of the areas cleared by the Israelis. Palestinian officers in red berets entered what was once the largest settlement, Neveh Dekalim, where IDF forces had left their headquarters behind for Palestinian use. The PA officers raised a Palestinian flag at the site. South of Gaza City, buses carrying Palestinian police moved toward the abandoned Netzarim settlement. The convoy was accompanied by a bulldozers and cars packed with cheering civilians who were honking horns and waving national flags. PA security forces have also entered two demolished settlements in northern Gaza and the former settlements of Netzer Hazani, Ganei Tal and Morag in southern Gaza, Palestinian Interior Ministry spokesman Tawfiq Abu Khoussa said. Mosque blared chants praising the „liberation” and fireworks lit up the sky. Meanwhile, Palestinians set fire to synagogues in the former Gaza settlements of Morag, Netzarim and Kfar Darom. „It is only the first step to more liberation … tomorrow we liberate all of Palestine,” Gaza resident Mohammed Khamish Habboush shouted into a mosque loudspeaker. Palestinians flooded into the empty settlements before dawn and carried off what was left in the debris, including chairs, tables and shopping carts. Young men tore down electricity poles, grabbing the wires, ripped out toilets and walked off with doors and window frames. Approximately six Israel Defense Forces battalions stationed in Gaza are withdrawing from the Strip via the Erez, Karni and Kissufim crossings. Kochavi, commander of IDF forces in Gaza, is set to be the last of the some 3,000 soldiers to leave and is expected to lock the border’s gate behind him at 6 A.M. Monday. Except for soldiers serving in division headquarters, other soldiers have spent the past two days inside armored vehicles. Two of the vehicles broke down early Monday because of mechanical problems, and troops came to haul one away. Soldiers fired in the air to deter Palestinians from approaching. In an early-morning interview with Israel Radio, the head of the IDF Operations Directorate said that the troops leaving Gaza would redeploy in southern Israel to protect the residents of towns near the Strip. In a largely symbolic cabinet vote Sunday, the ministers unanimously gave the IDF the green light to end military rule in the Gaza Strip, installed following the Six-Day War. Also Sunday, the cabinet approved the withdrawal of IDF forces from the Philadelphi route along the Gaza-Egypt border, where Egyptian and Palestinian forces began their deployment on Saturday. The IDF evacuation of the Philadelphi route is to take place simultaneously with the rest of the Gaza withdrawal. The IDF is operating joint situation rooms with the Egyptians and the Palestinians to coordinate the withdrawal. An Egyptian state newspaper reported on Sunday that Egyptian troops deployments along the route will be completed by Thursday. IDF chief: This is PA’s true test „We are leaving with our heads high,” Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Dan Halutz said Sunday during the ceremony marking the IDF’s withdrawal from Gaza. Halutz also it was up to the Palestinian Authority to take control of the Gaza Strip, enforce law and order and prevent attacks on Israel by powerful militant groups, which refuse to disarm. „This is their true test. We will not tolerate their ineptitude, turn a blind eye to their failures or ignore acts of terror. They will not be able to shirk their responsibility,” he said. The ceremony marking the IDF withdrawal from Gaza ended early Sunday evening at division headquarters near the evacuated settlement of Neveh Dekalim. GOC Southern Command Major General Dan Harel praised the professionalism of the security forces that carried out the pullout. „We are at the start of a new beginning and a historic opportunity for a better future for both peoples,” Harel said. The ceremony came to an end when troops lowered the flag and then sang „Hatikva,” Israel’s national anthem. Only Israelis took part in the ceremony. A joint ceremony marking the Gaza handover to the Palestinians, set to start a few hours prior, was canceled. IDF officials blamed the cancelation on the Palestinian refusal to attend the ceremony. „The Palestinians have decided not to participate in the so-called handover ceremony,” said a senior Palestinian official. He said that among other things, „the Israelis have provided the Palestinians with no answers on the future of the border crossings, especially Rafah.” The handover ceremony had been set to take place at 3 P.M. Sunday. Kochavi was to take part in a joint ceremony with the Palestinians at the Erez crossing, in which IDF officers were to have given their counterparts in the Palestinian security forces maps detailing Gaza’s water, electricity and sewage infrastructure. BPI-info