Manning checkpoints, dodging suicide bombs, Hamas bullets and rocks thrown by Palestinian children--all part of a day's work. But evicting Israeli settlers has got to be especially hard.
Earlier, in an emotional standoff, Colonel Erez Tzukerman, head of the Golani Brigade, hugged and cried together with the Morag settlers of in an effort to persuade them to evacuate voluntarily before Wednesday, when the forced evacuation was slated to begin.
"We didn't come here to clash with you, but to offer assistance and to help you, the people we once protected and worked hand in hand with," a teary-eyed Tzukerman called out to a crowd of several hundred anti-disengagement activists gathered at the entrance to the southern settlement.
A young man suddenly emerged from the crowd with tears streaming down his face and called out to the senior officer, "I was an officer under your command, you taught me what it was to be an officer and protect the Israeli people. We are not your enemy but you have turned us into your enemy. Just six months ago, I was wearing an army uniform and serving side by side with you."
More on the pullout here and here. Also, "Hamas pledges calm as pullout begins."
UPDATE: From BBC News: An Israeli soldier helps evacuate Gaza. Dana, a teacher in Jerusalem, was relocated to a tent city outside Gaza to help with the evacuation.
For me to do this to people who will leave peacefully and nicely is hard, but I think it is something I have to do. We have to do it for the sake of our democratic state.
It's not fun, and I'm afraid I'm going to be a different person afterwards.
We've done all this training, but you never really know what's going to happen. In theory we know how to do this. But how do I know what to do when someone cries in my arms because I'm taking them from their home?
It's so complicated. Some of the soldiers live in Gaza or have family there. Some are against this, but they do it anyway.
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