Israel shuts Gaza settlements to exclude rightists

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GUSH KATIF, Gaza Strip, June 30 (Reuters) - Israel declared a closed military zone in Jewish settlements in Gaza on Thursday and sealed off a hotel where radical Jews have holed up to resist a planned August withdrawal from the occupied territory.

An army spokeswoman said the temporary closure was designed to stem an influx of ultranationalist foes of the pullout plan. The measure could also clear the way for raids to eject those trying to set up anti-withdrawal bastions such as the hotel.

The military presence in the Gush Katif settlement bloc was beefed up after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said he had ordered "every necessary step" to stop far-right Jews from trying to derail his pullout plan through violence and road blockades. Sharon aims to evacuate all 21 Jewish settlements in Gaza and four of 120 in the West Bank, a plan U.S.-led mediators hope will revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

However, he has been confronted with escalating protests by radical nationalists.

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Israeli rightists call a Gaza pullout a betrayal of Jewish claims on biblical land and appeasement of Palestinian gunmen.

Palestinians welcome any Israeli withdrawals from lands occupied in the 1967 Middle East war. However, they suspect Sharon intends to leave Gaza mainly in order to cement Israel's hold on much larger settlements in the West Bank.

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