Israel Releases Details of Gaza Pullout Plan

Seattle Times ^ | By John Ward Anderson and Molly Moore

[me_newswire]

JERUSALEM; Israel's proposed evacuation of Jewish settlements and soldiers from the Gaza Strip would allow the military to continue to enter Gaza and permit Israel to maintain control over its airspace, seaports and border crossings, according to the first official text of the plan made public.

All 7,500 Jewish settlers and the Israeli troops that protect them would be evacuated by the end of 2005, according to the document. Under Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan, evacuated settlements would not be destroyed — as they were when Israel evacuated the Sinai Peninsula in the 1980s — but Palestinian leaders and militants would not be allowed to live there.

Palestinian officials, already dismayed by President Bush's endorsement of the plan Wednesday, said the text exposed new flaws in the disengagement proposal.

"This is changing Gaza into a big prison," said Saeb Erekat, the Palestinian's chief negotiator with the Israelis. He said that with Bush's endorsement of the plan, "We've been set back at least 50 years."

Raanan Gissin, a spokesman for Sharon, dismissed the Palestinian complaints and said, "We're giving them something on a platter and they're just coming up with excuses as to why they don't want to conduct the necessary steps against terrorist activity."

After the Gaza withdrawal, Israel would continue to control all access into and out of the small coastal strip, effectively keeping its 1.2 million Palestinian inhabitants inside a heavily guarded enclosure about twice the size of Washington, D.C., according to Sharon's plan. Most residents of Gaza have not been permitted to leave for years, even for medical, family or other emergencies.

"Israel reserves for itself the basic right of self-defense," the plan stated, "including taking preventative steps as well as responding by using force against threats that will emerge from the Gaza Strip."

Before Sharon can begin implementing his plan, he must persuade his Likud party to support it in a May 2 referendum. Polls published yesterday showed the plan garnering a slim majority among the 200,000 party members.

Material from The Associated Press is included in this report.

See current Middle East news links at Mideast Newswire:
www.mideastnewswire.com

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[Toddsterpatriot]

Sounds familiar.

[epigone73]

A little disappointing to read that the settlements will not be destroyed before Israel evacuates them.

why whould these barbarians have new houses?

Torch the setllements, then hit the neighboring towns on the way out.

Scorched earth.

[Robert_Paulson2]

imagine that.
gaza treated like its own state.
any attacks origninating from gaza, can be retaliated against, air land or sea... at will by Israel.

welcome to statehood motha f's.
the statehood they never wanted and feared so greatly, in a small measure has come into their hands.

they never wanted peace or a state.
they wanted forever "refugee" and "occupied" status, as their platform to kill jews in perpetuity until they, and WE are all dead.

now they got their own, sorta state. concrete, razor and electrified walls.... ARMED and SURROUNDED by gun towers, electronic surveillance and anti missile batteries.


kinda like a prison.
JUST like the west bank is going to be.

They're getting their state.
And every responsibility that goes with it.

For arabislamists, that is a death sentance.

Good.

[goldstategop]

I don't see the need to pull out the settlements. Since you're going to keep troops there, the only way a long term military presence is politically justifiable is by basing troops in the midst of a friendly civilian population. Otherwise it'll be an occupation force and the pressure will mount for Israel to pull its army out altogether. The Likud should turn down Ariel Sharon's ill-advised surrender plan.