Israel entered Netzarim settlement

Israeli forces have entered the last remaining Jewish settlement in Gaza to begin the evacuation of around 120 families.

Hundreds of troops and police arrived at Netzarim to bring an end to the Gaza withdrawal less than a week after the forced evacuations began.

"We knew this day would come, but we will get over it and move on," Netzarim's Rabbi Eyal Vered was quoted as saying by Telegraph. "We will win, but not with force. God forbid that blood will be spilled."

As pravda.ru said before, the process of clearing the 21 Jewish settlements, which was expected to take a month, began last Wednesday.

Once Netzarim has been cleared, troops will move on to Sanur and Homesh, the last of four West Bank settlements to be removed under the "disengagement" plan.

The two settlements are home turf for hardliners who see an even stronger biblical claim to the West Bank than to Gaza.

The Jerusalem Post today quoted Ariel Sharon as saying that Israel would continue to build in the West Bank.