The Israeli military started removing shipping containers from a base in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, the army's first step toward a planned pullout later this year.
A crane lifted the containers onto flatbed trucks, which drove out of the base of the Southern Brigade in the Jewish settlement of Neve Dekalim, the largest in Gaza Strip. All in all, some 30 containers containing furniture, computers, weapons and uniforms were to be removed Wednesday, the army said, according to The AP.
Meanwhile, Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Wednesday was quoted as saying that he expects Palestinians to loot Jewish settlements immediately after Israeli forces leave the Gaza Strip.
"Immediately after the Israeli army leaves there, everything will be looted," Sharon told senior Cabinet ministers on Tuesday, according to the Yediot Ahronot newspaper.
