Gaza Killing

[Crash Test Dummy]

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/f3f86530-0f4c-11da-8b31-00000e2511c8.html

A Jewish settler in the West Bank killed three Palestinians yesterday, adding to tensions surrounding the emotionally charged first day of Israel's forcible eviction of settlers in the Gaza Strip.

As people were being taken from their homes and loaded on to buses in six communities in the Gaza Strip, a settler grabbed a security guard's gun at the West Bank settlement of Shiloh and opened fire on a group of Palestinians.

It was the second fatal shooting of Arabs by a settler in two weeks. Hamas, the militant Islamic group, threatened to avenge the attack, in which three Palestinians were also wounded.

In Neve Dekalim and other settlements in the Gaza Strip, protesters clashed with Israeli forces as they moved in to remove anyone who had not voluntarily left by midnight on Tuesday.

Police began the operation here by snatching about 50 troublemakers and sought to persuade families to leave quietly. Army officials said the 21 settlements in Gaza and four in the West Bank could be empty by early next week.

“But we are not going to force our way into people's homes unless we have exhausted all necessary means, including dialogue,” said Captain Ishai David, a military spokesman.

The settlers did their best to put emotional pressure on the soldiers and paramilitary border police sent to remove them. Some handed out their children's toys while one woman sifted the earth in her garden through her fingers, telling the police: “You are leaving this soil to the people who want to kill us.”

At a checkpoint outside the Gaza Strip, a 54-year-old woman set fire to herself in protest against the withdrawal. She was taken to an Israeli hospital with severe burns.

In Morag settlement, a woman soldier was slightly injured when a settler stabbed her with a needle.

In coments aimed at the settlers yesterday, Ariel Sharon, prime minister, said they should blame him for the disengagement and not hurt those who had to implement it

[Crash Test Dummy]

this is not good news. i thougth the Gaza strip will calm down and that region of the world would be peaceful.