KHAN YUNIS, Gaza Strip, August 20, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - In the bullet-scarred ruins of Khan Yunis, the people of Gaza speak warily about their hopes for the future, desperate for peace and security after the withdrawal of Israeli troops and departure of settlers from their doorstep.

"These five years are the worst five years of my life," 55-year-old Abu Ala'a, just 200 meters away from the giant grey walls of the Gush Katif settlement bloc and multiple gun outposts, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) Saturday, August 20.

"There are no jobs. Many people have been killed. My house has been damaged."

Khan Yunis was the scene of bloody Israeli offensives that rendered the city almost uninhabitable.

"Orange Metal" was the latest such offensive and was described by analysts as a “farewell” operation that saw the demolishment of up to 50 homes and displacing of more than 400 families.

Everywhere are pictures of the dead, almost all of them young men who launched an uphill struggle in the course of the five-year Palestinian Intifada.

Some threw stones, others fired assault rifles or blew themselves up.

Even as he celebrates the withdrawal, Abu Ala'a makes clear he is exhausted.

"The Intifada was the first time, the Israelis used their tanks, helicopters and jets. It was very harsh."

Abu Ala'a had to move his seven-member family away from Al-Tufah checkpoint, where the Israeli army bulldozed and shelled homes, and has just moved them back to the shell-scarred building.

"I want the economy to improve. I want the Palestinian Authority to rebuild the houses that have been demolished by the Israelis. I want the freedom to move freely from Gaza to the West Bank to Egypt," he says.

The evacuation of settlers from Gaza was put on hold Saturday for the Jewish Sabbath.

Only three of the 21 Gaza settlements are still believed to have any sizeable population living inside, and they are expected to be moved within a matter of days after the operation resumes Sunday, August 21.

The evacuation of four more settlements in the northern West Bank is expected to start Tuesday, August 23.

A Palestinian boy stands on the roof of his family house in front of the settlement of Neve Dekalim. (Reuters).

Down the street, teenagers ride bikes and scamper close to the 20-foot cement walls, sealing off Jewish settlements.

A 14-year-old also named Ala'a says he just wants to go swimming. He hasn't gone to the sea in five years despite its proximity to Khan Yunis.

"I want peace. I want a seaport. I want them to rebuild the schools, hospital and factories that have been destroyed," he says.

But Ala'a is far from optimistic.

"The fighting will start again in two to three years," he says.

In an alley, where children climb up a half-collapsed building and bang sticks to scare a stray dog, Umm Ahmed stands in front of her home, where a few years ago, her family had to escape out a small metal door in the back to escape a firefight.

Her nephew is in prison and two other nephews have been killed in the last five years.

"We need medical care for all those who were injured and all the thousands who have been imprisoned by Israel to be free," she says.

A poll carried out by the Israeli public radio however showed Saturday that a majority of Israelis continue to support the pullout from the Gaza Strip.

Some 54 percent of people surveyed by public radio said that they favored the pullout while 39 percent said they were opposed to it.

"A new neighborhood will be built, with 3,000 new housing units," said Abbas. (Reuters).

Palestinian leaders and aid agencies are aware a failure to meet the expectations of Gaza's 1.3 million people could lead to further bloodshed.

Hailing the withdrawal from Gaza as a "first step", Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas urged the Palestinians to join forces in rebuilding war-torn Gaza.

He said Friday that some 3,000 new homes are to be built in the Jewish settlement of Morag in the southern Gaza Strip.

"A new neighborhood will be built, with 3,000 new housing units, on what was known as the settlement of Morag," Abbas said in a speech in Gaza City.

Morag lies just a few kilometers from the Palestinian town of Khan Yunis.

Abbas added that the settlement of Netzarim, which is due to be evacuated by Israeli forces early next week, would also be used as part of a new port complex in Gaza.

Abbas also said that he had signed a much-trailed decree that would mean that all the land vacated by the settlers would be controlled by the Palestinian Authority except where individuals could prove ownership.

"We have issued a decree today about the land, which represents 97 percent of the area that is being evacuated, so that no individual will be allowed to benefit personally," he said.

Abbas said that it was vital that the Israeli army pull out of all areas that it has occupied since the start of the September 2000 Intifada.

"After that it must stop the settlements and its judaizing of Al-Quds (occupied east Jerusalem,)" he said in a speech in Gaza City Friday, August 19.

Abbas urged Israel to stop all its settlement activity in the West Bank if it was serious about peace.

Having presided over the first ever withdrawal from occupied Palestinian territory, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon made clear last week that he would "continue and develop" Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

Hamas reiterated in a statement handed to reporters Friday, it would not disarm after the pullout from the Gaza Strip and vowed that there would be no let-up in their campaign until Israel left all parts of the occupied territories.

"We will maintain and develop our armaments because the resistance of the enemy is long," the statement said.