ISRAEL/GAZA: Gaza's evicted Jewish settlers say Israel's withdrawal was a victory for Hamas

Record ID: 398423

  • Title: ISRAEL/GAZA: Gaza's evicted Jewish settlers say Israel's withdrawal was a victory for Hamas
  • Date: 27th January 2006
  • Summary: (W3) FORMER SETTLEMENT OF NETZARIM, GAZA STRIP (FILE - SEPTEMBER 16, 2005) (REUTERS) SEVERAL THOUSAND HAMAS MEMBERS AND SUPPORTERS MARCHING ON FORMER SETTLEMENT BOY WEARING GREEN HAMAS GOWN MARCHING MARCHERS WEARING HAMAS CAPS AND WAVING GREEN FLAGS
  • Embargoed: 11th February 2006 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: International Relations,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA1HRUM2E61FCXKM1PDSHH5DIAY
  • Story Text: Jewish settlers removed from the Gaza Strip by Israel said on Thursday (January 26) that the Israeli government helped Hamas to victory in the Palestinian parliamentary elections by evacuating Gaza Strip settlements last year. Around 8,500 Jewish settlers were uprooted from settlements in the Gaza Strip under Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's "disengagement" from conflict with Palestinians. Settlers saw the pullout as a "reward" to Palestinian militants who spearheaded an uprising that began in 2000; on Thursday they said the Hamas victory reaffirmed their premise. Former settler Nachy Eyal, now living in a mobile home at Nitzan in Israel, said: "When you are being given something you should take it and when the state of Israel has given this strength to Hamas, Hamas has taken it and it will not give it up." Israel completed its pullout from Gaza in September after a 38-year occupation of the territory. To most Israelis, Gaza was a deadly quagmire without any strategic or economic worth. To settlers, it was a land bequeathed to Jews. Palestinian militants claimed the withdrawal as a victory and Hamas said Israel's withdrawal was the first step towards the liberation of all occupied land through armed struggle. Hamas's victory in Wednesday's (January 25) historic ballot could bury chances for peacemaking. Israel and the United States refuse to negotiate unless it renounces violence and disarms, which Hamas refuses to do. Hamas has carried out nearly 60 suicide bombings in the Jewish state since a Palestinian uprising began in 2000. The Gaza settlers say their removal helped Hamas's cause. "They (Hamas) still want to destroy us, to transfer us away from this place, and if we do not want to accept this insight we should be more decisive, stop thinking about the Arabs interest, start thinking what we can do for the Jews. They made a big mistake by pulling out of Gush Katif," said Aaron Farjound, another resident of Nitzan. Israel's pullout from Gaza was a massive psychological blow to supporters of the policy of settling Jews inside territory captured in the 1967 Middle East war and which Palestinians want for a state of their own.
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