Israeli flag lowered over Gaza (Pullout two weeks early)

Israeli flag lowered over Gaza
CNN -- Sunday, September 11, 2005
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NEVE DEKALIM, Gaza (CNN) -- The Israeli flag has been lowered over Gaza, symbolizing the end of 38 years of Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territory two weeks ahead of schedule.
The last Israeli soldiers were set to leave Gaza just hours after Sunday's flag ceremony at the Israel-Gaza border crossing.
The Gaza headquarters at Neve Dekalim is the only military building that the Israelis have not dismantled and it will be handed over intact to the Palestinians.
Earlier, the Israeli Cabinet voted not to demolish 25 remaining Jewish synagogues left behind in Gaza, instead asking the Palestinian Authority to protect them. The ministers also voted to complete the pullout Sunday.
The Israeli military's departure had been expected in two weeks but was rushed in recent days.
Raanan Gissin said the Cabinet voted 14-2 with one abstention against demolishing the synagogues. Destroying the 25 synagogues would have delayed the withdrawal.
The vote was made after the Cabinet unanimously voted to formally end military administration in Gaza after 38 years.
It also unanimously moved to withdraw its military forces from the Philadelphi corridor between Gaza and Egypt.
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The military withdrawal follows Israel's historic removal last month of 8,500 Jewish settlers from Gaza and several hundred more from a corner of the West Bank.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has invested much of his political future in the pullout plan, which is aimed at invigorating the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
Palestinian leaders had initially criticized the pullout plan after Sharon announced it in December 2003, saying such a step should not be taken without first negotiating with the Palestinians.
But after the largely peaceful withdrawal of the settlers, Sharon's office said Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas had called the Israeli prime minister to congratulate him, calling the disengagement a "historic" and "brave" decision.
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CNN correspondent Guy Raz contributed to this report.
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