Israel began withdrawing its forces from Palestinian Authority-controlled areas in Gaza around midnight last night - only slightly more than 24 hours after the IDF had entered Gaza. Knesset members of the nationalist camp criticized the quick departure, and the media were rife with speculation regarding the reasons for the decision, whether there was a disagreement between the army and the government, who knew about the decision, and when they were informed.
The entry into several Gaza areas late Monday night followed the firing of a few mortar shells into the city of Sderot, within Israel-proper, early that evening. Political and military leaders explained throughout yesterday the need and justification for the wide-scale operation. Gaza battalion commander Brig.-Gen. Ya\'ir Naveh told reporters late yesterday afternoon, \"We will remain [in Gaza] for days, weeks, or months, as long as it takes…\" The sudden withdrawal orders last night therefore took the army by surprise - and speculation abounded that they were connected with the harsh words spoken yesterday by U.S. State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher. Speaking for U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, Boucher said that Israel\'s reaction was \"excessive and disproportionate.\"
Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said that as Defense Minister, he stands behind both the entry into and the withdrawal from the Palestinian-controlled areas in Gaza, and that he does not plan to bounce the responsibility onto anyone else. He defended Naveh\'s remarks of yesterday as a form of warning to the Palestinians not to renew their mortar attacks. However, this approach was belied by an IDF spokesman\'s statement that blamed Naveh for \"speaking on a matter that was not within his realm of authority.\" Ra\'anan Gissin, chief spokesman for the Prime Minister\'s Office, also criticized Naveh by saying that he mis-spoke by implying that the army might remain in Gaza for an extended period. Gissin said that the decision to withdraw was not made under American pressure, and was in fact made yesterday afternoon, well before the State Department\'s harsh criticism.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Sha\'ul Mofaz took another approach. He told government ministers today that both he and Naveh were aware in advance of the decision to pull out by last night, and that Naveh had only meant that the IDF has the ability to remain there for as long as it wanted. But IDF Southern Command officers said that at yesterday afternoon\'s army meeting about future steps to be taken in Biet Hanoun, the word \"withdrawal\" was not even mentioned.
The questions being asked today, therefore, are the following: Did Israel withdraw its forces suddenly because of American pressure? Or did the government plan in advance to remain there only for a short time? When was the army informed of the plans to withdraw? Was the government seeking to blame the army for whatever went wrong?