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Israel forces begin gaza pullout { August 31 2006 }

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   http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/Israeli-forces-begin-Gaza-pullout/2006/08/31/1156817022135.html

http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/Israeli-forces-begin-Gaza-pullout/2006/08/31/1156817022135.html

Israeli forces begin Gaza pullout
August 31, 2006 - 4:30PM


Israeli soldiers searching for tunnels and explosives withdrew from the outskirts of Gaza City, the army said, ending a five-day operation that Palestinians said left 20 people dead, and heavily damaged houses, streets and farmlands.

The army released footage and photos of what it described as a tunnel dug by militants from the Shajaiyeh neighbourhood to the Karni crossing, the main cargo passage between Gaza and Israel.

The tunnel, which was 13 metres deep and 150 metres long and reinforced with wooden beams, was to be used to attack Israeli soldiers at the crossing, the army said.

Fifteen militants and five civilians died in the airstrikes and gun battles that began late on Saturday in Shajaiyeh, Palestinian hospital officials said.

Rescue personnel said they found the lower half of a Palestinian man's body in a field, but didn't immediately know whether he was an additional casualty or a previously reported one.

After the last troops withdrew shortly after dawn, hundreds of people poured out of homes in Shajaiyeh and nearby neighbourhoods to inspect the damage the army left behind.

Tanks and bulldozers rumbling through the narrow streets of the neighbourhood had pulled off the facades of houses and rutted streets.

Many houses were riddled by hundreds of bullets fired by the tanks' machine guns.

Water and sewage pipes were burst, and electrical lines torn down.

Farmers touring their lands found uprooted olive groves and destroyed chicken coops and cowsheds.

Ziad Sarsak, 29, who lost a cousin and an olive grove in the operation, said several houses belonging to his family, including his own, were badly damaged by shrapnel from tanks and bulldozers.

"They prevented us from leaving to look for water or food. They destroyed all means of life, and uprooted trees that are older than they are," Sarsak said.

"Look around, it's like an earthquake or a mad cow run amok in the neighbourhood," he said. "I used to question why fighters are fighting Israel, but I think this time, I'm going to support their fight, because they are right and I was wrong."

© 2006 AP DIGITAL





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