Jubilant Palestinians fired guns in the air and sounded car horns today, after Israeli troops pulled out of the last of four abandoned Jewish West Bank settlements.
It completes the final phase of the withdrawal it began in Gaza last month.
A masked Palestinian Hamas militant participates in a rally celebrating Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in the evacuated settlement of Kfar Darom in the Gaza strip yesterday
The final Israeli exit came after sunset yesterday, when a few army vehicles left the empty settlements of Ganim and Kadim, next to the West Bank town of Jenin.
Within minutes, thousands of celebrating Palestinians stormed in, setting rubble ablaze as gunmen fired in the air - reprising the scenes in Gaza when Israel completed its pullout there last week.
The Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the northern part of the West Bank marked the first time Israel has ever removed veteran settlements from territories claimed by the Palestinians for a state.
Palestinians insist this must be followed by an Israeli exit from the rest of the West Bank. While agreeing some other settlements must go in a full peace accord, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has said he intends to strengthen the main settlement blocs.
Earlier yesterday, Israeli forces left the other two evacuated settlements in the northern West Bank. Palestinians climbed to the roof of the old British fortress in Sanur and hung banners with pictures of Hamas leaders.
Palestinians also overran the fourth empty settlement, Homesh. In Gadim and Kadim, celebrations continued today. Militants said they would continue carrying out attacks against settlers and soldiers in the West bank.
"With these guns, we drove them out of this area, and we will drive them out of other areas as well," said one masked gunman from the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a violent group with ties to Abbas' ruling Fatah movement.
The four settlements were emptied on August 23rd, a day after Israel removed the last of the settlers from all 21 Gaza settlements under Mr Sharon's "disengagement" plan.
Soldiers remained until yesterday, when Israeli forces buried an empty synagogue building in Sanur, following a Cabinet decision not to tear down the abandoned synagogues. Unlike Gaza, however, Israeli forces will continue to patrol the area, the military said, as it has not turned over control of the northern West Bank to the Palestinians.
AP