As the last Israeli soldier left the Gaza Strip early on Monday, September 12, triumphant Palestinians celebrated the end of 38-year military presence, praying for full liberation of the Strip with control over crossings and airspace.
Jubilant Palestinians fired celebratory shots into the air as their red, green, black and white national flag was raised in former Jewish settlements and convoys of Israeli troops in tanks rolled across the border, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Gaza divisional commander General Avi Kochavi, the last Israeli soldier, exited Gaza at 6:50 am (0350 GMT) through the metal gates on the Kissufim crossing where Israeli military bulldozers dug up mounds of earth to block the entrance.
An Israeli flag was then hoisted ahead of a formal ceremony to mark the end of the Operation Last Watch, which took place under cover of darkness.
Causing last-minute acrimony, Israel decided to leave 24 synagogues intact inside the impoverished Gaza Strip, one of the most densely inhabited places on earth with a population of 1.3 million.
An infuriated Palestinian leadership said it would demolish the synagogues within hours of taking control of the evacuated areas.
Palestinian security forces had overnight entered the 21 evacuated Jewish settlements which had sprung up across Gaza since the territory was captured by Israel from Egypt in the 1967 Middle East War.
The army pullout follows Israel's evacuation of 9,000 Jewish settlers from the Mediterranean strip of land and a corner of the West Bank, the first such move since the 1967 war.
Victorious Palestinians
"I'm so happy that I can't find the words to describe how I feel. I just hope the West Bank will follow," said Palestinian Captain Abu Mohammed.
In the old unofficial Jewish settlement capital of Neve Dekalim, one Palestinian security official was seen kissing the ground, his assault rifle on the ground before him.
For Palestinians, Neve Dekalim, the largest Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip, conjures up images of cold-blood killings and destruction as it used to be a launch pad for deadly Israeli raids into the adjacent city of Khan Yunis.
With more than 108 Palestinians killed and up to 2500 homes demolished in Israeli offensives launched from Neve Dekalim, the settlement of death and destruction as called by the Palestinians is by no means a misnomer.
A flashpoint of defiance against the dismantle of Jewish settlements, Neve Dekalim was constructed in 1982 on 600 donums of Palestinian land usurped by Israeli occupation troops.
Joyful Day
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas hailed the Israeli army's departure a "day of joy".
"We have to say that this is a day of joy, the likes of which the Palestinian people have not known for a century," Abbas told journalists in Gaza City.
"We are seeing soldiers, tanks and Israeli military vehicles leaving our land and the Israeli flag lowered and replaced for always by the Palestinian flag," said a jubilant Abbas.
"Much work still needs to be done but nothing can take away from this victory."
Still Occupied
Despite the celebrations and festivities, the Palestinians insist that even after the departure of the last Israeli soldier, the territory will remain occupied as Israel will retain control of land borders, air space and territorial waters.
Describing the pullback as "an important step", Abbas said the question of border crossings, particularly in Rafah, must be resolved in order to prevent the Gaza Strip "from turning into one giant prison".
Last week, Israel closed the Rafah border crossing to Egypt, Gaza's only exit to the rest of the world, and plans to open a new crossing where it can still monitor the passage of goods.
Although Israel is leaving the Rafah terminal, it has insisted on maintaining security control of all merchandise entering Gaza from Egypt.
"It is time for this people to taste joy and to be done with sadness, suffering and oppression which they have endured generation after generation," Abbas said.
"This is the result of the sacrifice of the martyrs and the prisoners."
