Tuesday, August 16 2005 11:16 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Jerusalem: Israel's historic pullout from Gaza Strip after 38 years of occupation is under way and it has announced complete evacuation of two settlements weeks ahead of schedule.

"The evacuation of Ganim and Kadim has been successfully completed," officials said yesterday (Aug 15, 2005).

"These are the first two communities to be fully and successfully evacuated," they said.

On the day Israel began its historic operation to withdraw from the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said in a televised address that Israel could not hold on to the Gaza Strip forever.

He said the pullout is a painful step but essential for the country's future. Sharon vowed the "harshest response ever" to any attack by Palestinian militants after the pullout.

"It is no secret that I, like many others, believed and hoped that we would be able to hold onto Netzarim and Kfar Darom (settlements in the Gaza Strip) forever," he said.

"This act is essential for Israel. Believe me, the pain I feel with this act is the full realisation that we must do it," Sharon said adding, "We cannot hold onto Gaza forever, more than a million Palestinians live there... crowded in refugee camps, poverty and hotbeds of hatred with no hope on the horizon."

Sharon said his plan was "the answer to the changing reality."