Settlers of Neveh Dekalim, in the Gush Katif settlement bloc in the Gaza Strip turned a hotel into a "Central Command for Anti-Disengagement activists," Israeli sources reported on Wednesday.
A group of settlers, who called themselves the "Opposition Authority" in mock to the government’s Disengagement Authority, declared that they intend to bring more people to fortify the area in bid to stop the planned pullout from the Gaza Strip.
They also declared that they want to expand the settlements claiming that this is the way to "fight terror".
Members of this group said, "The fight has begun"
Datia Yitzhaki, head of the group, stated that fighting the disengagement is a national struggle.
"Two months ago we came up with the idea of defending Gush Katif. This is not the private struggle of our residents, but rather of all believers and supporters of Israel," she said.
The settlers also said so far 200 families relocated to Gush Katif, Gaza’s biggest bloc, and they expect around 150 more to join. The settlers plan to establish two new communities in that area.
"Our reaction to a terror attack has always been to expand the Jewish presence here, to build another Jewish town. We’ve never given in to terrorism," said Nadia Matar, head of the West Bank-based Women in Green movement.
The army plans to declare Gaza Strip a closed military zone weeks before the evacuation of the 21 Jewish settlements there, slated to begin in mid-August.
The army has said all border crossings would be closed to non-residents. But rightists, who claim all of Gaza and the West Bank as their biblical birthright, have vowed to flock to the area ahead of the pullout and help the settlers resist the troops.
Matar said, "God gave us this land, and no one – including a Jewish person – has the right to give it away. The Arabs are trying to kick us out in order to take the Promised Land away from us."
She even went further accusing the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of implementing Hamas’ wish.
"Sharon has turned into the operations wing of Hamas and wants to throw us out of the Land of Israel. His plan is a different kind of terror attack, and so our reaction is the same: build, build, build," Matar said.
