Gaza settlers scuffle with troops over demolition

Jewish settlers scuffled yesterday with Israeli soldiers sent to demolish abandoned buildings the army said could be used as an outpost by Jewish militants to fight the planned withdrawal from Gaza.

The confrontation stoked fears of violence when Israel tries to remove settlers from the occupied Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank in August under Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan for "disengagement" from conflict with the Palestinians.

Young ultranationalists, some lying in front of bulldozers, some climbing on top of them, tried to halt the demolition of derelict beachfront bungalows - a few of which were being refurbished as homes for incoming opponents of the withdrawal.

"Jews don't expel Jews," chanted protesters as soldiers and police dragged them away kicking and screaming. A youth was stretchered away with an arm injury.

"During the activity, dozens of civilians illegally entered the closed military zone that was declared, in an attempt to interfere with the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) activity and vandalise IDF equipment and vehicles," the army said.

Ten Israeli civilians and 10 soldiers were injured in the scuffles and were taken away for medical treatment, it said.

One soldier who called on fellow soldiers not to demolish the buildings was escorted away by other troops and will be tried by a senior officer today, the army said.

Authorities fear that an influx of supporters into settler enclaves could make evacuations more difficult and increase the chance of violence.

The army destroyed several of the 21 villas before the settlers arrived. The buildings near Shirat Hayam, some little more than skeletons, had been holiday homes for Egyptians before Israel captured Gaza in the 1967 Middle East war.

The cottages are close to a hotel that far-rightists, many from hardline settlements in the West Bank, took over and reinforced recently as a base to fight evacuation.