warned Israelis not to return there. "The entrance of Israeli citizens into the areas of the evacuated communities is forbidden until further notice," the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement to BosNewsLife.
The withdrawal competed the final phase of the withdrawal Israel began in Gaza last month. Since late Tuesday, September 20, "Following the completion of the evacuation of civilian and army infrastructure from the four communities in the northern West Bank, IDF forces finished their permanent presence in the area…" the IDF said.
Israeli troops left Jewish settlements of Ganim and Kadim after they already withdrew from Sa-Nur and Homesh, the military said. However the IDF warned that under the "Disengagement Plan" ruled, "the entrance of Israeli citizens into the areas of the evacuated communities is forbidden until further notice."
VIOLENCE CONCERN
There has been concern of new violence amid reports that Palestinians plan to destroyed all synagogues left behind by Jewish settlers. Reporters said earlier that as Israeli soldiers left the empty settlements of Ganim and Kadim, next to the West Bank town of Jenin, thousands of Palestinians streamed in, setting fires as gunmen fired in the air.
Similar scenes were reported during last week’s pull out from Gaza. Unlike Gaza, however, Israeli forces will still continue to patrol the area, the military said, as it has not turned over control of the northern West Bank to the Palestinians.
In Gaza, meanwhile, workers have reportedly the finished a border crossing between Rafah and Egypt and the border was to be opened over the weekend to allow Palestinian students and those living abroad to cross, The Associated Press (AP) news agency reported from the region.
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has been quoted as saying that despite the renovations, the Palestinians did not plan to open the crossing without an agreement with Israel, to avoid a new flesh-point.
TRANSPORT AGREEMENT
News of the withdrawal came as Israeli transportation Minister Meir Shetrit and his Palestinian Authority counterpart, Saed-Eddine Khurma, signed wednesday a European Union backed transport agreement which should officials said should to "bridges of peace" between Palestinians and Israelis, transport officials told BosNewsLife.
Under the accord the EU provides about $3-million to establish a joint transportation office
which Palestinian Minister Shetrit’s hopes will help "ease restrictions and conditions at the
border crossings and in rehabilitating Gaza’s airport," following the withdrawal by Israeli forces.
The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ), made up of evangelical Christians supporting Israel, has expressed concern however that families of evacuated Jewish settlers will face difficulties for years to come.
APPEAL TO FRIENDS
We "are appealing to our friends and supporters worldwide to help us assist families evacuated from the 25 Jewish communities in Gaza and northern Samaria," the ICE said.
"True, there is government compensation available to build new homes, but that will take years…We are particularly concerned about how 2,500 school-age children will adjust to their new surroundings this fall, and Israeli school and social workers are already approaching us for help."
Christians have been divided over the withdrawal from Gaza, with some scholars claiming that the Bible shows a future Israel will have different borders and a larger area. One of the most vocal influential evangelical Christians, American television preacher Pat Robertson, said last year in Jerusalem that "only God should decide if Israel should relinquish control of the lands it captured in the 1967 war, including the Gaza Strip, West Bank and East Jerusalem." (With BosNewsLife Research, BosNewsLife News Center and reports from Israel)
