Clash in Yamit

Eight members of the movement to stop the withdrawal from Sinai were arrested in Yamit this afternoon after clashing with Israeli soldiers and police who tried to prevent them from landing from a flotilla of pleasure boats rented at a Tel Aviv marina last night.

The five boats, carrying an estimated 40 militants withdrew after the landing party was subdued. But the skirmish on the beach foreshadowed more serious confrontations when Israeli troops begin to remove an estimated 3,000 illegal squatters, mainly Orthodox Jews from outside the region, who have vowed they will never leave Sinai voluntarily. The final evacuation operation is expected to begin this Sunday or Monday.

AREA DECLARED A RESTRICTED ZONE

Midnight last night was the deadline for all Israeli civilians to be out of Sinai. The peninsula, which will be returned to Egypt on April 25, was declared a restricted military zone, closed to civilians except those with official authorization to remain.

The latter include 15 families of veteran settlers in Yamit and about 25 families at Ophira at the southern end of Sinai. They were given temporary passes by the army to allow them to complete the loading of their personal effects on trucks for transporation to relocation sites inside Israel.

Although some settlers were demanding advance payment of compensation before they left, the evacuation proceeded smoothly yesterday. There was anger, bittemess and tears among many of the settlers who, encouraged by the Israeli government six years ago when Yamit was built, believed northern Sinai would be their permanent home.

PROBLEM OF THE SQUATTERS

But the squatters pose a different problem. Motivated by ideology and the belief that Sinai is part of “the land of Israel” given to the Jews by God, they consider the government’s agreement to withdraw a sacrilege. They have occupied abandoned buildings in Yamit and surrounding villages and have been building barbed wire and sandbag barriers indicating an intent to make a last ditch stand against the army.

Some of the squatters insist they will not use force against Israeli soldiers. They hint they have other means to prevent the troops from carrying out their orders. These are said to consist of tape recordings of wailing infants which will be put on the public address system and the recorded voice of Defense Minister Ariel Sharon telling soldiers to disobey orders to remove them. The recording is believed to have been made some years ago when Gush Emunim militants first squatted on the West Bank. Sharon was not Defense Minister at the time.

THREATEN TO USE FORCE

Other opponents of the withdrawal say they will use force against the army if necessary. Their rationale is that withdrawal from Sinai would lead to worse casualties in a future war with Egypt. One group of about 40 students is headed by Zahi Hanegbi, a former Students Association chairman. He is the son of MK Geula Cohen, a member of the ultra-nationalist rightwing Tehiya faction.

They barricaded themselves in the remains of a war memorial to Israeli soldiers who fell in battle in Sinai. The memorial itself has been removed to Israel at the request of the bereaved families.

But for the legitimate settlers of the Yamit area, compensation was the main issue. It was settled when the Knesset, after an all-night session, opproved a compensation bill providing five billion Shekels (about $270 million) to be shared among 1,400 families.