
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 18, 1994                   TAG: 9405180112
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: GAZA CITY, GAZA STRIP                                LENGTH: Short

PALESTINIANS CELEBRATE END OF ISRAELI RULE

Israel's three decades of occupation in the Gaza Strip ended Tuesday with the handover of the region's government and military bases to Palestinians who celebrated with gunfire in the streets.

Israeli troops withdrew by night from areas under Palestinian rule hours after an Israeli general and a PLO official scrawled their names on an English-language protocol to transfer the strip's governent.

With Israel's departure, Gaza and the West Bank town of Jericho become PLO self-rule zones as a test for further negotiations to finally end the decades-old conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. Some Israeli troops will remain around Jewish settlements in the strip.

Palestinians outside the former military governor's residence in Gaza City waved Palestinian flags as the police trotted in single file to take over the base. They cheered and whistled until deafening streams of gunfire followed by shots fired in all directions drowned them out.

After the soldiers left, young boys removed the sign that said "Civil Administration," Israel's title for its military government, in Hebrew and Arabic.

by CNB