Israel Completes Evacuation of Gaza

(September 12, 2005)

Israel Defense Forces soldiers locked a gate at the Kissufim crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip around 7 a.m. September 12, 2005, after the last Israeli soldiers left the Strip, thereby ending 38 years of Israeli military rule.

“From now on, the Palestinian Authority bears responsibility for what happens in the Gaza Strip,” said Gaza commander Brigadier General Aviv Kochavi, the last Israeli soldier to leave Gaza.

Two soldiers in purple berets locked a gate at the border and Kochavi shook their hands. Israeli soldiers then raised the flag, removed from Gaza's military headquarters, on the Israeli side of the border.

Palestinian Authority forces, meanwhile, took control of the areas cleared by the Israelis.

Palestinian officers in red berets entered what was once the largest settlement, Neveh Dekalim, where IDF forces had left their headquarters behind for Palestinian use. The PA officers raised a Palestinian flag at the site.