Prime Minister Ariel Sharon revealed the scope of his withdrawal plan Friday, saying Israel will leave all of the Gaza Strip and dismantle four West Bank settlements. Sharon said the withdrawal would get under way within a year and amount to a departure from all of Gaza, except for a patrol road along the territory's border with Egypt that the military says is crucial for combating weapons smuggling.
| Ah yes, the Rachel Corrie Memorial Sewerway! |
"We need to get out of Gaza, not to be responsible anymore for what happens there," Sharon told the Maariv daily. "I hope that by next Passover we will be in the midst of disengagement, because disengagement is good for Israel." After the withdrawal, Israel would consider cutting off the water and electricity it currently supplies to parts of Gaza if attacks against Israelis continue, the prime minister told the Yediot Ahronot newspaper.
| And charge the Paleos market rates for when the lights and water are turned on. |
Beforehand, Sharon said he would order a halt to any new construction in Gaza's 21 Jewish settlements, all of which are to be removed under the plan. Initially, Sharon considered holding onto three of the enclaves in northern Gaza.
| Move them to the Negev and make the desert bloom a little more. |
Maariv quoted Sharon as saying that in the northern West Bank, Israel would abandon four isolated enclaves - Ganim, Kadim, Homesh and Sanur. A Sharon spokesman, Raanan Gissin, confirmed the remarks. About 220,000 Israelis live in more than 150 settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Sharon told Haaretz that once Israel completes its West Bank separation barrier, Palestinians living illegally in Israel - who he said numbered in the tens of thousands - will be expelled.
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