Getting closer

Settlers gone, Gazans look forward to the withdrawal of Israeli military forces, reports Erica Silverman

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Palestinian national security officers in Khan Yunis pour over detailed maps of southern Gaza, carefully plotting red circles for national security stations and blue ones for police stations, covering 17 of the 21 evacuated settlements about to be placed in the command's control. For the fist time in 38 years, the Gaza Strip will enjoy contiguous integrity.

Palestinian national security forces are positioned opposite Israeli tanks along the settlement fences, and at certain checkpoints, such as At-Tufah in the south, they are in the same location. It has been five years since a Palestinian soldier or civilian has stood next to an Israeli tank without fear of being shot.

"Israel systematically targeted PA (Palestinian Authority) security for more than five years," stated PA Ministry of Interior spokesperson Tawfiq Abu Khoosa. Israeli military forces destroyed all five training centres across Gaza, 10 of 13 police stations, various other facilities along with equipment and transportation vehicles, and even the ministry's headquarters.

From 2000 to 2002, one-third of PA security personnel were killed or imprisoned by Israel.

Six months ago Colonel Jamal Kayed arrived at the national security headquarters for southern Gaza, extending from the Egyptian border to the centre of Gaza City, to rebuild the security forces and apparatus. The PA has revitalised a force that has been unable to train or even travel, and in mid-August 7,500 troops were deployed across Gaza. "PA security forces will maintain control after the withdrawal," avows Colonel Kayed.

When Israeli forces depart, expected 8 September, Palestinian forces will deploy along the same security lines surrounding the settlements. Considering Israel's refusal to disclose their logistical plan for withdrawal, PA security forces reacted swiftly, ensuring that settlers did not depart under fire. According to Israel's unilateral rationale, the PA is yet to learn if Israeli forces will leave all 21 settlements at once, or if it will be a gradual withdrawal.

After their departure the settlement areas will be a declared a military zone until the rubble has been cleared and the area inspected for landmines and other hazardous materials settlers, the Israeli army, or even the Palestinian factions themselves may have left there.

"We are expecting thousands of Palestinians to flood these areas once the Israelis withdraw, each with his own story of suffering," stated the Gaza director of preventative security, indicating they will allow for an initial period of jubilation.

The PA has confirmed that those who enter the zone unauthorised will be arrested.

PA security forces lack weapons and ammunition, and Israel has not agreed to permit reinforcements to enter Gaza while demanding that Palestinian forces maintain control. Donor governments have stepped in to help -- the US and EU by far the largest -- but compared to present needs it is not enough. The Spanish government donated cars for military purposes, although the flak jackets they sent were denied entry by Israel.

The PA security presence, nonetheless, can be felt in Gaza, with 4,000 officers patrolling the streets of Gaza City alone. However kidnappings persist with families prone to take law into their own hands. Meanwhile, the PA is working to disarm factions, aiming to absorb them into the frame of law. To date there is no agreement between the PA and Hamas regarding the latter's significant arsenal of weapons.

Will the PA be able to prevent factions from continuing to resist Israel by force? Sunday's bombing in Beersheba does not bode well for the PA's ability to coordinate with factional leadership. The Islamic Jihad operation was in response to an Israeli army raid last Wednesday in Tulkarem, which claimed the lives of five Palestinians, three of which were innocent teenagers.

The Israeli cabinet voted Sunday in favour of an agreement with Egypt for the handover of security control of the Philadelphi route to the Egyptian government. The agreement stipulates that Egypt would deploy 750 security officers along the border. It is expected that the Knesset will approve the agreement this week.

PA officials insist they can maintain security along the international border, and are pushing for the presence of a third party.

"Unless the Israeli forces leave Rafah crossing, along the Egyptian border, it is not a withdrawal," warned Colonel Kayed, fearing continued humiliation, land clearing and belligerent soldiers that have characterised occupation checkpoints. Kayed is certain, "an Israeli presence would ultimately turn Gaza into a big jail," prohibiting the free movement of goods and people.

Senior Hamas leader, Mahmoud Zahar, reiterated, "if Israel maintains troops at Rafah we will keep attacking," a sentiment shared by other factions.

On the Israeli side, dozens of Netzer Hazani settlement evacuees have been staging protests in downtown Tel Aviv, angry that they were only offered hotel rooms in the resort areas of Eilat and the Dead Sea, instead of in the centre of the country, as they had demanded. Haaretz reported that local residents claimed the settlers were "looking for mercy they didn't deserve," after taking the Palestinian's homes.

Israel suffers from a collective identity of victimisation. The evacuated settlers have begun a PR campaign directed towards American Jewish organisations. The Orthodox Union, an umbrella organisation for Orthodox synagogues throughout North America, well known for its Washington DC-based Institute for Public Affairs, is making pleas to its members for "relief funds" for the families who have been "suffering in hotel rooms" for 10 days.

The settlers were compensated immediately, as much as $400,000 per family, for relocation.

The eviction of settlers has evoked much fear within Israeli society, signalling a loss of control. However, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon both placed and removed the settlements on Palestinian land. Settlers lured into coming to Gaza have been forced to leave, likely no more than pawns in an unfulfilled project.

The "pain and suffering" of settlers is being repeatedly focussed on without touching on the serious issues, such as that their presence was a violation of international law, and even against the vision of President Bush and the American administration over the years.

The settlement policy of Israel remains the biggest obstacle to peace. The World Court brands all settlements illegal. Approximately 230,000 Jews remain in about 116 settlements amongst the 2.4 million Palestinians of the West Bank. Proposed settlement expansion will enable Israeli control over 46 per cent of West Bank territory.

The American Jewish Congress and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organisations attacked the UNDP for funding Gaza banners celebrating the withdrawal, claiming certain banners carried "propaganda" that some day Jerusalem and the West Bank would be returned to Palestinians.

On the harbour of Gaza City, fisherman Mohamed Al-Hishi and his sons dock their small fleet of yellow boats. Hishi remembers fishing with his grandfather off the coast of Jaffa before his family fled to Gaza as refugees in 1948. They lived in a tent provided by UNRWA for five years. He is now confined to fishing no more than six nautical miles from shore, though the figure was set at 20 nautical miles under the Oslo agreement. This small area has been over-fished and the eco-system inevitably destroyed.

His workers have been forced by Israeli soldiers to remove their clothes in winter and swim to shore; their boats often destroyed and the fishermen imprisoned.

He used to envision sailing to Egypt, but after 38 year of occupation his horizons closed. Hishi now hopes to visit his sister freely in Khan Yunis, after the withdrawal.