Israeli Force Storms Synagogue

It was a sight many thought they would never see: Israeli troops stormed a Gaza settlement synagogue Thursday and dragged fellow Jews out of the building.

Thousands of troops rushed up a ramp to the Neve Dekalim, after throwing sand on cooking oil that the protesters had spread in their path.

The settlers could be heard over a loudspeaker are urging the soldiers not to go into the synagogue. 'Don't evacuate Jews from this holy place.'

CBS News Correspondent Robert Berger reports the settlers have been playing this sort of psychological warfare with the soldiers, telling them that removing them from the synagogue is wrong, that it's against the Bible, that it's against God, that it's against Zionism.

Women and girls could also be heard chanting inside the building, reports CBS News Correspondent David Hawkins, but it's the young men believed to be in the synagogue that are most likely to have a confrontation with the soldiers.

In the nearby settlement of Kfar Darom, troops Thursday fired a water cannon at protesters gathered on the settlement's fortified rooftop.

The protesters threw eggs, bags of milk and lightbulbs with paint inside at troops. The army raised two cranes over the synagogue, preparing to hoist metal cages to carry protesters away. A soldier stood atop one of the cages with plastic riot shields.

Capturing the Neve Dekalim and Kfar Darom synagogues would be an important victory for the forces. The people inside — mostly extremist youths from the West Bank and Israel — have provided some of the fiercest resistance to the pullout.

The presence of four settlers with weapons at another settlement forced troops to postpone that outpost's evacuation and send in negotiators.

Settlers elsewhere burned houses, fields and tires in protest.

"They don't understand why the government is doing that to them. There is no peace agreement, there is no promise that the terror will stop, there is no promise that this is the last withdrawal," member of parliament Yuli Edelstein told Berger.

On the second day of the forced evacuation of Gaza, troops encountered stiffer resistance than at the start of the operation Wednesday. But security officials said they expected to clear out all 21 Gaza settlements by Tuesday, more than two weeks ahead of schedule.
Residents jeered the forces throughout the day, driving several soldiers to tears. "You're right. Cry like we are crying," shouted one settler who was loaded onto a bus, still wearing his white prayer shawl. By midday, 200 people had been removed, the army said.

Noga Cohen, who had three children maimed in a Palestinian shooting attack on a bus, said Israel was surrendering to Palestinian militants. On the door of her house was a sign. "In the event you knock on the door, you are a direct partner in the most terrible crime in the history of the nation of Israel."

"Why did you become a soldier? To be in this crazy situation?" screamed a young mother in Kfar Darom, cradling a baby, as soldiers entered her home.

In another house, a husband and wife lay on the floor, shrieking and clutching their small children. A soldier participating in the evacuation of a religious school suddenly disobeyed orders and was quickly carried away by troops.

Troops also burst into a nursery school crowded with protesters. People sang and danced as the troops entered, and about two dozen young children were playing with toys. Troops quickly cleared out the building.

Just a few yards outside Kfar Darom, dozens of Palestinians stood on the roofs of their houses watching the evacuation.

"For the first time in the last few years, I'm standing here without any fear that Israelis will shoot at me because their battle today is against themselves," said Mohammed Bashir, a Palestinian farmer.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon proposed his "disengagement plan" two years ago to ease Israel's security burden and help preserve Israel's Jewish character by placing Gaza's 1.3 million Palestinians outside the country's boundaries. Israel has occupied Gaza for 38 years.

The Palestinian Authority and the United States want the pullout to be the beginning of the "road map" peace process, meant to bring about an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel.

Palestinian militants are portraying the pullout as a victory for their suicide bombings and rocket attacks, and some Israelis fear they will resume their violence once the withdrawal is complete.