6-day Rafah siege ends, 42 Palestinians dead

An Israeli military source said the pullout was part of a ‘‘new deployment’’ to ‘‘ease conditions’’ and allow residents to leave their homes to stock up on food, water and medicine.

‘‘It looks like an earthquake hit the neighbourhood,’’ said resident Sami Fuja. ‘‘The roads are completely torn up, thousands of greenhouses were razed and many houses damaged.’’

But Israeli troops remained in at least one other Rafah stronghold, known as the Brazil camp, where besieged residents reported a severe water shortage.

Yousef al-Nala, father of six, had only one bottle of water left. ‘‘Whenever one of the children says he wants water, I dribble a few drops into his mouth,’’ said al-Nala.

Television footage of Palestinian refugees picking through the rubble of some 35 demolished homes in Rafah sparked a world outcry and even a row inside Sharon’s cabinet. —Reuters