TEL AVIV – Israel's military has been examining the prospect of
occupying Palestinian cities in the Gaza Strip and West Bank to facilitate
the expulsion of 10,000 Israeli residents in these areas.
Israeli officials said the Defense Ministry and the General Staff have
been reviewing scenarios and threat assessments during the military
operation to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank and
forcibly evacuate their 10,000 Israeli residents. They said the scenarios
envision major Palestinian attacks on both Israeli soldiers and civilians
during the
evacuation.
"The real difficulty might take place when the Israeli armed forces and
police come to remove the Israelis in a process that could take days or
weeks," National Security Council chairman Giora Eiland told LIC-2005 on
Monday. "What happens if the Palestinians fire at the Israelis? This is the
real challenge."
Eiland said such a scenario would require the military to undertake a
major operation in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip. He said the mission
would be to eliminate the Palestinian missile and mortar threat and ensure
stability that would enable the expulsion of the Israeli residents in about
25 communities.
"We might have to reoccupy Palestinian cities and neighborhoods to
create stability to remove the Israelis," Eiland said.
Later, officials said the prospect of Israeli capture of Palestinian
cities in the Gaza Strip has been discussed in both the General Staff and in
the government. They said such a scenario was part of a warning by Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon of a "very harsh response" to Palestinian shelling
during the withdrawal and evacuation mission.
Officials said the government was examining the ,capture of cities in
the Gaza Strip before the start of the Israeli withdrawal. They cited the
close proximity of Khan Yunis to the Israeli Gush Katif bloc of settlements
in the central Gaza Strip.
"We don't have to occupy the whole city to be effective," an official
said. "We could just capture a neighborhood where mortars have been fired at
Israelis."
In his address, Eiland said he did not envision significant Israeli
civilian resistance to the withdrawal, planned to begin around July 2005. He
did not say whether the military and police would use non-lethal weapons
against civilian resistors.
"It's not going to be simple," he said. "It will be very complicated."