middle east

Experts Fear Gaza Pullout Will Not Be Peaceful

By Chris Mitchell
Middle East Bureau Chief

CBN.com – JERUSALEM, Israel - Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Leader Mahmoud Abbas will meet tomorrow for the first time in four months.

They are supposed to talk about ways to carry out this summer's Gaza pullout without violence. But the threat of violence is growing, despite the best efforts of the United States.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spent her weekend in Ramallah and Jerusalem, pushing for Israel and the Palestinians to cooperate peacefully during this summer's Gaza pullout.

But there was little of substance to show for her visit. There was apparent agreement on one point: that the homes of Gaza's Jewish residents will be destroyed if and when they are forced to leave.

Rice said, "Israel and the Palestinian Authority agree that the settler homes in Gaza should be removed. Therefore, the parties will work toward a plan for destruction and cleanup. Special envoy (James) Wolfensohn will assist them."

Rice spent less time talking, at least in public, about the security situation. Despite pledges from both leaders that the Gaza pullout will not take place under fire, there were signs that the terrorist groups may have another plan.

One Israeli soldier was killed Sunday, and several others wounded when Palestinian terrorists ambushed a group of soldiers and civilian engineers at the Egyptian border.

The group was building a wall, in an attempt to shut down rampant weapons smuggling from Egypt.

In two other incidents, an Israeli motorist was killed in a drive-by shooting in the West Bank, and Israeli soldiers caught a Palestinian teenager smuggling pipe bombs through a West Bank checkpoint.

Israel had just loosened security at some checkpoints as a good faith gesture to the Palestinians. Since Abbas refuses to act against the terrorist groups, it makes the pledges that the Gaza pullout will take place without violence seem to be little more than talk.

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