AL QUDS, May 30: A group of 46 soldiers and officers from Israel's parachute regiment on Sunday urged the immediate evacuation of the controversial Netzarim settlement in Gaza after they completed a tour of reserve duty there.

The soldiers said in an open letter to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that "there is no logical reason for an entire regiment" to be posted in Netzarim, which is home to just 60 families.

"After our last period of reserve duty, we have decided to be silent no more," said the soldiers, insisting they were not conscientous objectors. "We do not want to risk our lives for a settlement which makes no sense and where only 60 families live."

Netzarim is one of a group of four settlements which Sharon wants to dismantle in the initial phase of a wider withdrawal from Gaza. But he was forced to delay a vote on his proposals for a week on Sunday after so far failing to garner support among a majority of his cabinet.

Netazarim has been described as a "bone in the throat" of the Palestinians, with access between the north and south of Gaza often interrupted as the settlers are given protection by the army to go about their daily lives. "We have become the chauffeurs and servants of the settlers in Netzarim," the soldiers' letter said. -AFP