Pullout of Israeli Troops From Gaza Is Moved Up

Israel announced Wednesday that it was accelerating the timetable for its military withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, the final phase in its pullback from territory the Palestinians want for a future state.

The troops’ departure is expected to begin Monday, and the army chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, told lawmakers it could take as little as 24 hours. The 21 former Jewish settlements then would be handed over to the Palestinian Authority.

The troop withdrawal originally had been planned to begin around Sept. 15.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s government drew no explicit link between the somewhat speeded-up timetable and the execution-style killing early Wednesday of a former senior Palestinian security official in Gaza.

But Israeli officials said the killing of Moussa Arafat, a cousin of the late leader Yasser Arafat, showed the urgent need for the governing Palestinian Authority to crack down on militant groups to prevent a slide into chaos in Gaza.

A Palestinian militant organization known as the Popular Resistance Committees claimed responsibility for the killing of Moussa Arafat. He was dragged into the street and shot 23 times after dozens of masked assailants armed with automatic rifles and antitank missiles stormed his Gaza City house before dawn.

“We have carried out the will of God and the rule of law,” a spokesman for the group, identified by the nom de guerre of Abu Abir, told reporters in Gaza City. The Popular Resistance Committees had often clashed with Arafat’s forces.

Arafat’s son Manhal, a 38-year-old military intelligence officer, was abducted by the attackers and was still missing at nightfall.

Arafat, who lost his job as head of Palestinian military intelligence in a reform drive four months ago, was widely seen as a divisive and unpopular figure in Gaza.

“Almost any motive attributed to this assassination could be correct,” said analyst Moshe Elad, who is a colonel in Israel’s army reserve. “He represented the old corrupt rule, the security systems that tried to rein in [Palestinian militant] organizations by force, and personal rivalries and conflicts.”

Vice Premier Shimon Peres called the “sights of anarchy” a test for the government of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

“Gaza from now on is the problem of the Palestinians, not Israel,” Peres said.

“They have tens of thousands of [security] men with guns on the payroll. They must get organized: one people, one voice, one gun.”

Palestinian officials put security forces on full alert and ordered a hunt for the gunmen. One senior Palestinian military intelligence official in the West Bank, Maher Fares, expressed amazement that Palestinian police did nothing to halt the assault, which lasted 45 minutes.

Abbas vowed that the killing would “not undermine our efforts to impose law and order.”

The Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza still requires the formal approval of Sharon’s Cabinet, which meets Sunday; it is expected to pass easily. Soldiers last month emptied the Jewish settlements of the approximately 8,500 residents.

One reason Israel is eager to complete the withdrawal is that Sharon is planning to travel this month to the United Nations to address the General Assembly, a body that Israel has long considered hostile. Israeli diplomats believe the pullout has substantially improved their nation’s international standing.

A final sticking point is the sole border crossing between Gaza and Egypt. Israel has agreed in principle to hand over control of the Egyptian-Gazan frontier to Egyptian and Palestinian security forces, but the details were still being worked out.

Israeli officials warned again Wednesday that there would be an extremely heavy military response to terrorist attacks originating in Gaza after the troops depart.

“If Palestinian attacks from Gaza continue after our withdrawal, Israel’s response will be very harsh, very painful,” said Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom. “This is not a threat; it is a statement.”

Special correspondent Fayed abu Shammalah contributed to this report from Gaza City.