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Israeli army hunting armed deserters

The Israeli army is searching for nine deserters, some of them armed, in the wake of last week's rampage by a disgruntled soldier who opened fire on a crowded bus and killed four Israeli Arabs, Israel's military chief said yesterday.

The gunman in Thursday's attack had fled the army to protest Israel's upcoming withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements. Authorities fear extremist Jews could carry out similar attacks in a bid to thwart the withdrawal, set to begin next week.

"There are deserters with guns and this concerns us," Halutz told Army Radio.

He said, however, that the nine missing soldiers had left the army for various reasons, and that he did not consider them dangerous.

"I don't want to blow this out of proportion," he said.

The withdrawal will uproot 9,000 Jewish settlers from their homes. Many settlers have said they will resist the evacuation order, and the army fears some could resort to violence.

"What concerns me the most is the possibility that, God forbid, someone being evacuated or carrying out the evacuation will be harmed," Halutz said.

Halutz, a former air force commander, said he expects attacks by Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip to drop after the withdrawal, but he couldn't say if they would disappear altogether. Many Palestinian attacks have been directed at Jewish settlements, but militants also frequently fire rockets and mortar shells at towns inside Israel.

Israeli hardliners accuse Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of caving in to Palestinian violence and believe the withdrawal will encourage further attacks. Sharon says the continued presence in Gaza, where 8,500 settlers live amid 1.3 million Palestinians, is untenable and the withdrawal will reduce friction between the sides.

Some religious leaders have encouraged Israeli soldiers not to carry out the withdrawal. In the latest such call, two former chief rabbis published a letter yesterday saying that dismantling Gaza's synagogues would "defile the sanctity" of the houses of worship.

Halutz said he found such comments "bothersome."

He said about 100 soldiers have said they won't carry out their orders.
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