Gaza town in ruins as Israel leaves

"This is Hiroshima 2004."

Saed Zourab, mayor of Rafah

Israeli withdrew from a besieged Palestinian district in this refugee camp early yesterday, leaving behind dozens of demolished homes, acres of leveled agricultural land and residents despairing over how the destruction will be repaired.

The military said that in the framework of the partial redeployment, Israeli forces released the quarantine from the Tel Sultan neighborhood, and residents were free to leave and enter. Troops continued to operate in the Brazil area of the refugee camp.

Tel Sultan was the first focus of the Israeli sweep through the sprawling refugee camp on the Gaza-Egypt border. Residents said the tanks pulled back in the direction of a Jewish settlement after midnight. However, the six-day Israeli raid continued in other areas of the camp.

Wary who left their homes -- many for the first time since Israel launched its offensive -- confronted streets and homes bulldozed into mounds of rubble, razed farms and greenhouses and sewage running through streets decorated with downed electric and telephone cables.

Israel's has led to sharp international and local criticism. Israeli Cabinet Minister Yosef Lapid caused an uproar Sunday when he said images of Israel's destruction in the Rafah refugee camp reminded him of his grandmother, who suffered Nazi atrocities during World War II.

In the bright sun, the destruction looked even worse than residents had originally anticipated.

"In one simple word: This is Hiroshima 2004," said Rafah Mayor Saed Zourab in an interview while touring the Tel Sultan neighborhood.

"The Israeli war machine left its ugly stamp on every tree, on every street, and they left an ugly tattoo on the head of these people. No word can describe the destruction and there is no way to repair this destruction," Zourab said.

The water and sewer systems have been destroyed, Zourab said, adding it would take a long time to repair downed telephone and electric cables. All the streets in the neighborhood have been damaged, and some residents can't leave their homes because rubble blocks the door, he said.

"Even the mosque has been burned," he said.

Israel's Rainbow" was launched to uncover and destroy weapons-smuggling tunnels along the Gaza-Egypt border and round up militants, according to the army.

However, only one tunnel has been uncovered, while 41 Palestinians have been killed and dozens of homes destroyed.

The widespread destruction has raised questions in Israel and the world over the goals of the invasion -- which was launched less than a week after 13 Israeli soldiers were killed by Palestinian militants.

Sharon Sunday he plans to request Cabinet approval next week for his proposal to evacuate all Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements.

After having the contentious plan rejected by his hard-line Likud Party in a referendum earlier this month, Sharon made minor changes in the hopes of obtaining a majority in Cabinet.

Despite revisions -- including breaking the plan up into phases, each of which will be brought for separate Cabinet approval -- Sharon is not guaranteed a majority, and the vote could bring down his government.

The army insists that in order to make the Gaza pullout a success, it must widen a patrol road along the Gaza-Egypt border to prevent arms smuggling. The army wants to expand the 9km road by 300m to make it harder for militants to dig tunnels.