Israeli army lifts closure on Gaza Strip settlements

The Israeli army lifted a closure on Gaza Strip settlements on Friday, a day after it declared the area a closed military zone.

The Ha'aretz daily quoted a military spokeswoman as saying that the closure has been lifted and Israelis are allowed free access to the area, which was shut off Thursday following clashes with anti-pullout activists who barricaded themselves in an old hotel.

"The lifting of this order is possible following the completion of the mission of taking over and the evacuation of the hotel in Neve Dekalim, as well as the radical groups inside it," the army said in a statement.

The army said the decision to seal off the area and prevent non- Gaza Israeli residents from entering all 21 Gaza settlements on Thursday was intended to stop an additional influx of right-wing activists who have waged attacks against Palestinians and security forces in the area in the past few days.

Along with the lift of the ban, the army ordered a limit on the number of goods and belongings brought into the area to enable an extended stay by settlers.

Under the disengagement plan, Israel will evacuate all Gaza settlements and four in the West Bank in mid-August, the first Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Palestinian territories in almost four decades.

The plan has been strongly opposed by Israeli ultra- nationalists who consider it a betrayal of their biblical claim of the lands where the Palestinians seek statehood.

Source: Xinhua