Untitled Document

Israel/Palestine - Gaza Disengagement Plan

The Gaza disengagement Plan in context:

"In June 1967, the Israeli military took control over the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip (together, the "Palestinian Territories"). Ever since, Israel has maintained actual and effective control over the Palestinian Territories and the indigenous Palestinian population thereon. Consequently, Israel belligerently occupies the Palestinian Territories as a matter of law."

The settlement phenomenon

The Plan:

The disengagement plan is a four- stage unilateral initiative of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. It aims at relocating Jewish settlements and military deployments implemented in the Palestinian territories of Gaza and of the northern part of the West Bank into Israel. According to Israel, there is no reliable Palestinian partner for any bilateral peace negotiations, which explains the need for a unilateral action. With the approval of the United States, Israel intends to prove in this way that it is committed to the Peace process and to the two- state solution drawn by the "Road Map". The plan was presented in April 2004. It entails a complete disengagement from the Gaza strip within one and a half year, and withdrawal from Northern Samaria area in the West Bank. These regions would not be considered any more under Israeli occupation. However, Israel would keep its military deployment in the area situated between the Strip and Egypt; it wants to keep exclusive authority in Gaza air space; it also wants to keep its right to self defense in Gaza and forbids any other state from exercising security tasks in Gaza without its prior own approval.

"Israeli PM Sharon's Four-Stage Disengagement Plan"
or "The Disengagement Plan - General Outline"

Ariel Sharon's Disengagement Plan, latest articles, Haaretz News Service and Associated Press

Analysis:

The disengagement plan was followed by a great vague of questioning and hesitation. The Palestinians didn't take it seriously, especially coming from Ariel Sharon, who has always been the main pro- settlement leader.

In reality, there is a "strategy behind the Plan", part of which was confirmed by Sharon's senior advisor Weisglass in an interview made by Avi Shavit in Haaretz newspaper: "Top PM aide: Gaza plan aims to freeze the peace process."

He said that "the significance of the disengagement plan is the freezing of the peace process. [...] And when you freeze that process, you prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state, and you prevent a discussion on the refugees, the borders and Jerusalem. Effectively, this whole package called the Palestinian state, with all that it entails, has been removed indefinitely from our agenda. And all this with authority and permission. All with a presidential blessing and the ratification of both houses of Congress." "Sharon, he said, could also argue "honestly" that the disengagement plan was "a serious move because of which, out of 240,000 settlers, 190,000 will not be moved from their place."

In addition, according to the Legal analysis of the disengagement plan given by the Bethlehem media net, "Israel seeks to proclaim an end to the Gaza Strip's occupation in order to absolve Israel of all legal responsibilities as an "occupying power"-while simultaneously retaining effective military control over the Gaza Strip and its inhabitants."

"It hopes to garner international support for retaining and even expanding illegal colonies in the Occupied West Bank in exchange for a withdrawal from Gaza. This strategy's success was most apparent in the April 14, 2004 Bush-Sharon press conference during which President Bush praised Sharon's withdrawal plan and announced that "existing Israeli population centers" in Occupied Palestinian Territory would become part of Israel in any permanent status agreement." According to this same analysis, the disengagement plan is "demographically motivated".

"Notwithstanding the terms of the Plan, Israel will remain an occupying power under international law after disengagement from Gaza and is therefore bound by the obligations of an Occupying Power under international customary law and the Fourth Geneva Convention." "It will retain effective control" over the Gaza strip and "will retain the ability to exercise authority over the strip".

"SHARON SEEKS SUPPORT FOR GAZA WITHDRAWAL," by Dan Williams, Swiss Info, October 25, 2004

General Assembly, 59th session, statements of representatives of both parties about the disengagement plan:

ISRAEL:
Silvan shalom, Deputy Prime Minister of Foreign Affairs of Israel said:
"Israel is now planning to leave the Gaza Strip as a means of enhancing security and establishing a new, more promising, platform for a return to negotiations. We are in constant contact with the donor community and the World Bank in a joint effort to rebuild Gaza in the wake of Israel 's withdrawal".

PALESTINE:
Farouk Assaad Kaddoumi, Head of the Political Department of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) said:
"To ensure the success of the Roadmap and the targeted destination, that is a final and comprehensive settlement of the Israeli Palestinian conflict by 2005, the plan also requires that Israel "freezes settlement activity and withdraws from Palestinian areas occupied since September 28. 2000." "In order to deviate further away from the direct route to the tamed destination Sharon declared that he was absolutely determined to carry out DISENGAGEMENT in Gaza despite the Political problems within his own party, Likud, because the party believes that the disengagement conflicts with the Zionist aims of creeping annexation of Palestinian territory Sharon's plan creates a situation where Israel will have to leave the settlements BUT WILL STILL CONTROL everything that enters and exists Gaza. It will tightly seal off Gaza and block the only outlet for the Palestinian in Gaza from crossing into and from neighboring Egypt".

 

Note by the Secretary General as to the "Question of the violation of Human Rights in the occupied Arab territories, including Palestine", report submitted by John Dugard, Special Rapporteur, pursuant to Commission on Human Rights resolutions 1993/2/A and 2004/10, 12 August 2004, 59th session, A/59/256:

"Despite the fact that the International Court of Justice has unanimously held that settlements are unlawful, settlement expansion has substantially increased in the past year as has settler violence towards Palestinians. To aggravate matters, Israel is now proceeding with plans to incorporate the settlement of Ariel, 22 kilometers inside Palestinian territory. This action is prohibited by the International Court of Justice and cannot be reconciled with the decision of the Israeli High Court itself".

 

Tuesday October 5th, 2004: the US uses its veto to block a Security Council Resolution aiming at ending Israeli military assault "days of penitence" on Gaza. This attack which started on September 28th has caused 85 Palestinian casualties, more than a half of which are civilians.


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