Israel Mobilizes for Moving Day in Gaza

Amid a sleepy landscape of orange groves and sunflower patches, a sprawling military base has sprouted almost overnight.

The encampment, lined with hundreds of army field tents, will house the thousands of Israeli soldiers and police officers assigned to this month’s withdrawal from Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip. The size and sophistication of the base, stretching more than a mile along a country road, suggest just how big the undertaking is expected to be.

The government’s plan to remove 9,000 settlers from Gaza and the northern West Bank presents a mountain of logistical challenges, from strategic issues such as preventing attacks by Palestinian militants to more mundane headaches, including packing the belongings of settlers who must be removed by force.

The idea of relocating the equivalent of a small town, knickknacks and all, in the face of expected resistance is daunting enough. Making the job harder is the fact that officials have had only a few months to get ready for the Aug. 17 deadline.

The planning for the withdrawal, which is expected to cost nearly $2 billion, has a no-stone-unturned feel. The operation will begin Aug. 15, when police will go door to door in the settlements to deliver a 48-hour warning: Residents must leave or they will be removed.

When the evacuation begins, each home will be handled by a 17-member team of soldiers and police.

The officers will be unarmed, but special squads of armed troops and police will stand by in case of violence.

The evacuation teams will carry detailed dossiers on each household, with aerial photographs and floor plans, plus information on the number of residents, pets and cars to be removed.

Each resident who refuses to go will be carried off by a quartet of soldiers and police -- one per arm and leg, according to the plan -- and put on a bus for transfer to one of the hotels in Israel that the government has reserved as temporary shelters. Police have devised a computer program to track in real time which houses have been emptied.

Israeli officials say preparations for the withdrawal are on track, countering what they see as a bid by pro-settler forces to sow doubt about the government’s readiness.

Some settlers have complained that they lack detailed information on compensation for their property. The government will pay families $200,000 to $500,000 and provide free rent for up to two years.

“This plan will be implemented on time.... And it will be implemented exactly as stated,” said Eival Giladi, a ranking aide to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. “The government is very well prepared, from whatever aspect you want to look at: housing, education, jobs, agriculture, business -- everything.”

By far the largest organizational burden will fall on the army and police, which have a joint withdrawal force of 40,000 -- more than four soldiers and officers for each settler to be evacuated.

“This is the biggest operation ever for the police,” said Chief Supt. Avi Zelba, a spokesman for the national police, which is assigning 8,300 officers, a third of its ranks, to the army-led mission. The deployment will leave police short-handed to fight crime, and authorities plan to rely on thousands of civilian volunteers to help patrol the streets elsewhere.

The temporary merger of military and police, with a joint chain of command knitting the hierarchies of both, means a shift in the way each operates. The army, for example, plans to retool its lexicon to match a civilian operation. Terms like “battlefield order” and “war room” will be dropped for now.

No one knows how many settlers will dig in or how fiercely they will resist -- factors that will heavily influence the difficulty of the withdrawal.

But officials are planning for the worst. They have already closed the Gaza Strip to nonresidents and drawn up plans for restricting travel around it to deter protesters from Israel and the West Bank.

Officials say the military is ready to send troops into neighboring Palestinian areas and may use helicopters and planes if Palestinian security forces in Gaza don’t prevent armed militants from firing rockets into the settlements.

After the settlers’ removal, the Defense Ministry will be responsible for packing and moving the contents of the homes, which under current plans are to be razed later.

Rabbinical teams will be assigned to remove mezuzas, the encased scrolls mounted on the doorways of virtually every Jewish home here, and other religious articles.

Movers hired by the government will box family belongings, from clothing and photographs to toys and furniture.

The Defense Ministry will allot two 20-foot cargo containers per home, although some Israeli officials have expressed concern that there might be a shortage if all 1,600 houses have to be packed up.

Officials expect most settlers to remain until the end.

Under the terms of the withdrawal, the government has no responsibility to clear the belongings, but officials decided to pack and store the property to reduce friction with residents. The items will be stored at two sites in Israel.

To prod settlers to leave on their own, however, Israeli officials this week warned that they could not guarantee all belongings would be moved.

The period leading up to the withdrawal may prove nearly as busy as the operation itself. Thousands of soldiers and police are undergoing special training, including on crowd control and how to force their way into barricaded homes.

Some of the earliest training dealt with psychological issues involving the uprooting of settlers and related ethical dilemmas, such as whether it is right to carry out orders many Israelis oppose.

The army has provided commanders with a training kit, replete with handbook, CDs and videotape, that addresses issues such as insubordination and the potential anxieties of their troops.

“For many of our subordinates, carrying out the [withdrawal] will trigger feelings of anguish, rupture and pain. As their commander, you must be aware of their hardships and understand the complexity of your subordinates’ ethical dilemma,” the manual says.

Soldiers and police have begun to swarm the impromptu base near Reim, a few miles from the main entrance to the Gush Katif settlement block. On a recent afternoon, the fenced encampment thrummed with activity as tractors planed the ground and trucks ferried supplies.

The hastily built camp is itself a testament to logistical complexity. Field showers are hooked up to water towers, troops’ tents wired for electricity and the dining enclosures air-conditioned -- a blessing in the muggy Mediterranean heat.

Small things count at such times. Besides the usual fixings of military life, the huge camp comes equipped with a hamburger stand and a Domino’s Pizza.