Special to WorldTribune.com

TEL AVIV — Israelis, despite assurances by the government, fear returning to their homes in communities along the Gaza Strip.

Up to 20,000 Israelis have been forced out of their homes during the Hamas war. The Israelis have dismissed goverment assurances that their communities were safe from Palestinian rocket and tunnel attacks.

“The IDF is retreating,” a statement by representatives of the residents said. “The long ceasefire is in place and we are left once again feeling abandoned — no understandings, no agreements, no guarantees to peace and security.”

Kibbutz Kfar Aza has been virtually empty over the last month. About 30 men were said to be left from the agriculture community of 750, which fears Hamas tunnel attacks.

Residents said the military evacuated them three times during the 25-day Hamas war. They expressed concern that the military would soon withdraw troops from the kibbutzim and other communities along the Gaza Strip.

“Soon, all of the troops and battalions deployed to protect us will disappear and we’ll remain without security,” Merav Cohen, a resident of Kibbutz Ein HaShlosha, said. “There’s a feeling like the job isn’t done.”

On late Aug. 5, residents began a protest campaign against the Israeli withdrawal from and ceasefire with the Gaza Strip. They demanded either “an immediate military or political solution.”

“We haven’t seen any achievement — military or political — against Hamas, and in reality the rocket fire has not stopped for a moment,” the representatives said. “The tunnel threat we were so afraid of has turned more real than ever. Actually, we’re going back to a scarier and more complicated reality than the one we left behind before the operation began.”

On Aug. 4, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met representatives of communities near the Gaza Strip. The prime minister and military commanders briefed the southern residents of the results of the Hamas war and promised regional development.

“We will also increase security for communities adjacent to the Gaza Strip,” Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said. “We are committed to restoring security to residents and this goal needs to lead to a process of expansion and growth for communities in the area adjacent to the Gaza Strip.”

  Benjamin Netanyahu, Gaza Strip, Hamas tunnel threat ended? Thousands of Israelis reluctant to go home, Kibbutz Kfar Aza, Moshe Ya’alon