Israeli troops successfully evacuated the remaining settlers from four isolated West Bank settlements Tuesday to complete their emotionally difficult unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and the aforementioned West Bank settlements.
Approximately 1,600 protestors, most of whom did not live in the settlements to be evacuated, opposed the 6,000 Israeli troops sent in to finalize the pullback. The resistance took place at the West Bank settlements of Sanur and Homesh.
The feared violence against Israeli forces did not occur as it took roughly nine hours for Israel Defense Forces to clear out the final settlements.
The other two West Bank settlements slated for withdrawal, Ganim and Kadim, were evacuated voluntarily by residents. Bulldozers were sent in to raze certain structures there as planned. The demolitions began without a hitch.
Israeli army chief, Lieutenant General Dan Halutz said the demolition of homes and other structures will take another 10 days or so to be completed. At that time, the territory will be officially handed over to the Palestinian Authority.
The destruction of private settler homes was agreed to by the PA. They felt that single family homes would not be appropriate in the overcrowded Gaza Strip and many Palestinians feared that PA officials would take the best houses for themselves. The ruling Fatah faction has a history of corruption especially when it was run by the late Yasser Arafat and his cronies.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called Israeli President Moshe Katzav to praise the efficiency of the withdrawal.
The Palestinians will now gain the opportunity to rule over Gaza for the first time. Israel won control of the territory during the Six Day War in 1967. Between 1948 and 1967, Gaza was occupied by Egypt. Great Britain controlled Gaza between 1917 and 1948 while it was part of the old Ottoman Empire for hundreds of years prior to that.
It remains to be seen whether or not the PA has the ability and the willingness to prevent future attacks from the territories about to be turned over to it as required under the U.S. sponsored road map for peace. If it fails to do so, Israel will have little or no incentive to enter into future negotiations with the PA as ceding further territory would only jeopardize its security further. Israel has already made clear that there would be no additional unilateral withdrawals without some kind of reciprocity from the Palestinians.
