Clashes As Gaza Braces For Pullout

(CBS/AP)  As the Israeli military on Thursday isolated the Gaza Strip, declaring it a "closed military zone" to prevent Jewish extremists from going in, police stormed a hotel where extremists were holed up and removed them all in minutes an unplanned dress rehearsal for the August pullout.

The lightning operation on Thursday targeted the most dangerous of the opponents — West Bank extremists, some with long records of violence, who said they would battle against the Gaza pullout to the death.

But they quickly surrendered to the overwhelming numbers of security forces, struggling and shouting as soldiers lifted them from the floor of the hotel dining room and carried them outside.

"You're expelling Jews like the Germans, like the Russians," shouted media-wise West Bank hard-liner Nadia Matter at the soldiers, who ignored her as TV cameras recorded her words.

Tension has been rising with Israel's planned pullout from Gaza less than two months away, reports CBS News Correspondent Robert Berger. Only residents of Gaza are now allowed to enter and leave the area, in an attempt to prevent Jewish militants from entering Gaza to resist the withdrawal. The settlers say the government has imprisoned them, before expelling them.

Also Thursday, a group of about 50 Gaza pullout opponents briefly blocked a main Jerusalem thoroughfare, police said. The attempt came a day after hundreds of protesters shut down main thoroughfares throughout Israel by lying down on the roads. On Wednesday, police pushed, shoved and dragged protesters out of the road and used a water cannon to disperse the crowds.

Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz called the Jewish extremists "hooligans" and added, "Preparations for disengagement and the disengagement itself will go ahead as planned with no hesitation. This is a test of the nation's authority, and the nation will pass the test with honor." He spoke Thursday at an air force ceremony.

The extremists had welded bars on the windows and had supplies of food, water and gasoline, preparing firebombs and nails.

But the military blocked reinforcements from arriving by declaring all of Gaza a "closed military zone," banning all civilians except for residents from entering, and the squatters said they decided not to resist.

Settlers and their backers oppose the pullout on several grounds. Despite Sharon's denials, they believe one withdrawal will inevitably be followed by others, and Orthodox Jews, who make up the majority of the most visible opponents, say no Israeli government has the right to relinquish control of parts of the God-given Promised Land.

The military absorbed criticism from local media for delaying the expulsion until a day after some of the extremists clashed with soldiers and Palestinians in a nearby neighborhood. A Palestinian was seriously wounded when a rock hit him in the head, and young Jews threw more rocks at him as he lay unconscious on the ground with an Israeli soldier trying to protect him.

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