JERUSALEM, Aug. 22 (Xinhuanet) -- Israel Defense Forces declared Monday that the evacuation of all the Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip was completed.

An Israeli excavator demolishes a house of former Jewish settlers in the Morag settlement, one of the Gush Katif settlment bloc in the Gaza Strip, August 22. (Xinhua)

    "Except for two families now in Netzarim, and who will be evacuated imminently, we have today completed the evacuation of the Israeli presence in the Gaza Strip," the Israeli army's Southern Commander General Dan Harel told reporters after the last settlement had been evacuated.

    Netzarim, the embattled and isolated settlement, was the target of countless Palestinian attacks.

Israeli soldiers drag away a Jewish settler during the forced evacuation of the Jewish settlement of Netzarim, the last of the 21 Gaza Strip settlements cleared by Israeli security forces Aug. 22. (Reuters)

    By late afternoon, Hagai Dotan, the police commander over seeing the evacuation, said most of the settlers in the settlement were on their way to Jerusalem.

    "It's tougher to see them go quietly, not fighting," Dotan said, watching the tearful and resigned settlers board the convoy. A settlement leader sat at the front of the first bus clutching a Torah scroll.

    The residents of the settlement had gathered for a final prayer service before leaving the enclave.

    According to the original plan, Israel wanted to pull out from all 21 Gaza settlements in two weeks' time, but spent only seven days to complete the evacuation since last Monday.

    Israel is scheduled to evacuate the two remaining settlements in northern West Bank on Wednesday. Enditem

A small boy celebrates during a rally organized by Palestinian Islamic militant group Hamas in the centre of the Gaza City August 22. (Xinhua)