5 6 4 1 2 3 116 117 Chapter Eight | Security Chapter Eight Security On the 28th of Iyar 5727 (06/07/1967), with the libera�on of the Gaza Strip in the Six-Day War, the General Staff issued an order sta�ng that control of the territory would be handed to the military government. The military government must manage a stable governance in the territory and maintain the order among the civilian popula�on. The military governor was subordinated to the Commanding General Officer (CGO). Experience gained from the IDF's brief stay in the Gaza Strip a�er the Suez Crisis (Sinai Opera�on - 1956) helped establish the military government in the Gaza Strip. Even back then (1956), the military government was responsible to control the popula�on.1 The Civil Administra�on was established in November 1981, a�er the signing of the Camp David Accords with Egypt, where Israel commi�ed to establish Pales�nian autonomy in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip. Its purpose was to prepare the ground for autonomy for the Arab residents. The establishment of the Civil Administra�on separated the military arm of the military government from its civilian arm and created a new system of control.2 With the establishment of the Gaza Coast Regional Council in 1979, the Security Division began to operate there as a department whose role it was to provide services to the residents, mainly ongoing security, firefigh�ng services and emergency warehouses.3 The Director of the Council's Security Division, (aka Security Officer) was required to establish security procedures for the se�lements and serve as their liaison with the IDF. The first Security Officer, Moshe Freiman, was also responsible for the establishment of the Fire Brigade and MDA, as well as the communica�on system of Gush Ka�f. He later assumed addi�onal responsibility for the maintenance of the se�lements' fences. A�er the terrorist incident in April 1984, in which terrorists hijacked an Egged bus - line 300 - near Ashkelon, taking it as far as Deir al-Balah, the security department established a counter-terrorism unit, whose role was to deal with hostage situa�ons, if necessary.4 A�er Moshe Freiman, the division was managed by Asher Stern, Maor Moyal, Ephraim Goldstein and the last of the bunch - Ami Shaked. Rela�onship with the neighbors un�l the First In�fada In the first years of the establishment of Gush Ka�f un�l the outbreak of the terrorist a�acks wave of 1987 - known as the 'First In�fada' - warm and cordial rela�ons prevailed between the Jewish se�lers and their Arab neighbors. On the eve of the 37th Independence Day of the State of Israel, in Iyar of 5745 (April 1985), the head of the Grara Regional Council, which united all the Arab villages in the southern Gaza Strip adjacent to Gush Ka�f, sent a congratulatory le�er to the head of the council, Reuven Rosenbla�: "On the occasion of the 37th independence of the State of Israel, best wishes to you and your family. With the hope that next year, the long-awaited peace shall prevail in the region. Happy holidays. Fouad Al Abdullah, Head of the Grara Council."5 Rosenbla� developed close personal rela�onships with the heads of the Arab councils. A common sight was their mutual visits to Gush Ka�f and that of the council members in the Arab se�lements, not only to offices but also to private home visits. They were warmly welcomed wherever they went. Special rela�ons were forged with the mayor of Deir al-Balah, Samir al-Azaiza. His family was fondly remembered as the one who, in 1946, helped Kfar Darom break ground and dig a well. Samir was the third genera�on, the grandson.6 Another common sight was the prominent presence of the Arab sheikhs in se�lement inaurgura�on ceremonies. In the mid-1980s, terrorist ac�vi�es in the Gaza Strip began to increase. On the eve of Independence Day 5745 (04/25/1985) the first terrorist a�ack in many years was carried out. Aharon Hazut from Gan Or was stabbed while walking around Khan Yunis market. He was rescued by Gershon and Tammy Perlman, his friends from the se�lement, who shopped with him there, and was transported by helicopter to 'Soroka' hospital in Be'er Sheva. Miraculously, he was not seriously injured, and his life was saved.7 The next day, on Independence Day, with the knowledge of the General of the Central Command, Moshe Bar-Kochva, about a thousand se�lers entered the main street of Khan Yunis in a long convoy. They started dancing on Independence Day while waving the Israeli flag in the main square of the city. No Pales�nian was a�acked. No vehicle was damaged. Only dancing in the heart of a Pales�nian city. The message was clear. From that day for two years, un�l the outbreak of the in�fada, Khan Yunis was a remarkably quiet city.8 The change in rela�ons with the neighbors - its origin and consequences Everything changed on the morning of 12/09/1987, a week before Hanukkah 5748. A day before, a severe traffic accident occurred near the Erez checkpoint when an Israeli truck driver made a sharp turn on the main road and hit a car driven by Pales�nian workers returning from work in Israel. Four of them were killed. Hundreds of residents of the Gaza Strip who made their way back from their work in Israel saw the terrible accident. On that day rumors spread that the driver was a rela�ve of Shlomo Sakal, who was stabbed to death two days before in the central market of Gaza. The following day, fueled by rumors of 'Israeli vengeance,' thousands of Pales�nians living in the Jabaliya refugee camp stormed the IDF outpost there and the IDF's rou�ne patrol of the camp. With great difficulty the soldiers managed to rescue themselves. A few days later, it became clear that these were not temporary riots but a general popular uprising of the Arabs in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip. 1 The door of the warehouse where rescue and medical equipment was stored, Gaza Coast Regional Council 2 Zvi Hendel with Arabs from the region during his tenure as Head of Council 3 Residents' mee�ng with Major General Matan Vilnai and with the Head of the Council, Zvi Hendel, in the late 1980s, when the security situa�on deteriorated 4 Commander of the Gaza Division Yom Tov Samia with the council employees at the Rosh Hashana toast in the late 1980s 5 Ambulance of the Gaza Coast Regional Council 6 The office of the Head of Council, Zvi Hendel, at Gush Ka�f intersec�on - a protest against the deteriora�on of the security situa�on during the First In�fada
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