ISRAEL: Former Gaza settlers say Israel's current offensive into the coastal strip was to be expected

Record ID: 396588

  • Title: ISRAEL: Former Gaza settlers say Israel's current offensive into the coastal strip was to be expected
  • Date: 4th January 2009
  • Summary: SIGN READING 'STRONG AND GET STRONGER' WOMAN HANGING OUT LAUNDRY (SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER GAZA SETTLER, KAREN TZAFATI, SAYING: "I was thrown out of Gush Katif and I'm now living in Nitzan and now with...we knew this was going to happen. We told the world, we told everybody, nobody wanted to listen, so it's not a surprise to us."
  • Embargoed: 19th January 2009 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Israel
  • Country: Israel
  • Reuters ID: LVAEE0RGAM55A8XJIQVR69QHC6N2
  • Story Text: Former Jewish settlers who were moved out of the Gaza Strip in 2005 under Israel's plan to disengage from the coastal territory say Israel's decision to invade the Hamas-run strip comes as no surprise.
    Karen Tzarfati used to live in the Jewish settlement of Gush Katif:
    "I was thrown out of Gush Katif and I'm now living in Nitzan and now with...we knew this was going to happen. We told the world, we told everybody, nobody wanted to listen, so it's not a surprise to us," said Tzarfati, who was moved out of the strip under the former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon's "disengagement" plan.
    Israel pulled out some 8,500 settlers and soldiers from the territory in 2005. When Hamas then took control of Gaza in June 2007, Israel began a crippling economic blockade of the Strip.

    "We left Gush Katif in order to bring peace to the south and peace to Israel and for the Palestinians," said former Jewish settler Ilan Ben Naem.
    The long-predicted ground action followed a week of Israeli bombardments from land, sea and air which failed to halt Hamas rocket attacks on southern Israel but killed more than 450 Palestinians in the crammed, Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
    Israeli tanks and troops virtually cut the territory in half with their night-time advance and by Sunday morning were ringing Gaza City itself, Palestinian witnesses said.
    At least a quarter of the 453 Palestinians killed in the current conflict have been civilians, a U.N. agency said. Another 2,050 Palestinians have been wounded.
    Four Israelis have been killed by rockets in southern Israel.
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