MIDDLE EAST: The Israeli army yesterday issued a decree barring Israeli citizens from relocating to settlements in Gaza to block hardline opponents of prime minister Ariel Sharon's pull-out plan from flooding to the Gaza Strip in an effort to prevent the evacuation of settlements.
Army officers also said yesterday that the military would soon begin withdrawing equipment from the Gaza Strip ahead of a pull-out from the area, which is scheduled to begin in July. Over the last few months, there has been a significant increase in the number of people trying to change their addresses to Gaza in an attempt to increase the settlements there before the military moves in to evacuate them.
The army could declare Gaza a closed military zone as early as May, to block ultra-nationalists from entering the area in an effort to frustrate the planned pull-out.
The army released a statement yesterday saying that the decree "was signed in accordance with the decision made by the political echelon and as part of the preparations to implement the government decision to carry out the disengagement plan".
A settler spokesman in Gaza, Eran Sternberg, said that "for the hundreds of thousands who will flock to the Strip [ to block the withdrawal] it will make absolutely no difference which address is registered in their ID books".
While troops and armoured vehicles will not be moved out of the Gaza Strip for now, the army will begin pulling out non-essential equipment in the near future.