TEL AVIV — Israel's military has allocated three weeks to evacuate
nearly 10,000 Jews from the Gaza Strip.
Senior defense officials said the military's Operations Directorate has
approved plans that would give Southern Command three weeks to evict more
than 8,800 Israeli residents of 21 communities in the Gaza Strip. The
directorate has allocated another week for the expulsion of Jews from four
communities in the northern West Bank.
The eviction would begin on Aug. 15, the officials said. They said the
first three weeks would be allocated to removing Jewish residents from the
Gaza Strip. The final week would be dedicated to evacuating the northern
West Bank.
Officials said the deadline for the evacuation of the Israelis from both
areas was Oct. 3. The original plan called for an eight-week evacuation.
"If things go badly and slowly, this may affect the military's general
strategic abilities to confront other challenges," a senior official said.
Officials said that under the plan, the military would evacuate more
than one Gaza community per day. The military would employ what officials
termed a "linear" method that would limit the evacuation to no more than
three communities per day. The operation would not take place on Saturday,
the Jewish Sabbath.
The largest of the 21 Israeli communities in the Gaza Strip is Neve
Dekalim in the central Gaza Strip, with about 2,500 residents. Officials
said Neve Dekalim would not be the first on the list to be evacuated.
Officials said they don't expect significant resistance from the Israeli
residents. But they said about 200 non-residents have been living in the
Gaza Strip, particularly in Gush Katif, and intend to block the evacuation.
The first step of the military operation would be the closure of the
Gaza Strip to everybody but residents. Officials said this could begin at
any time in accordance with military assessments regarding the expected
resistance.
The eviction of the Israeli residents would be conducted by units of the
standing army. About 8,000 reservists would fill support roles and guard
border areas in which standing army units had been deployed.
"They [reservists] will replace standing army units that will be trained
now for the disengagement," Deputy Defense Minister Zeev Boim said. "They
will not directly participate in the disengagement."
Officials did not cite how many soldiers would be used altogether, but
said the military would begin to deploy forces to the Gaza Strip around July
15. The weapons from Israeli residents would be collected before the
eviction.
The military has drafted a range of scenarios, including the prospect of
violent resistance by thousands of people. Officials said the opposition
would certainly try to block traffic throughout the country.
Another scenario was of a Hizbullah attack on Israel's northern border
during the evacuation. Officials said the military would increase
monitoring of southern Lebanon over the next few months.
Officials said the Israeli military would remain in the Gaza Strip and
northern West Bank for at least six weeks after the eviction of Israeli
residents. They said this period would be extended by several months if the
military is ordered to demolish the communties.
The military has revised its deployment in the northern West Bank.
Officials said a brigade installation and other military outposts have been
removed from the area. But officials said the security regime outside the
four communities slated for evacuation would remain.
