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Israel begins pullout from Gaza Strip

Monday, Israel started pulling out of 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip and four settlements in the West Bank. After being cleared, the land will be handed over to Palestinian control. So why is Israel pulling out of Gaza and four settlements in the West Bank?

In the midst of violence between Israelis and Palestinians, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon decided to promote disengagement as Israel`s best way of extricating itself from the conflict and decreasing its vulnerability to terrorism. Mr. Sharon endorsed a view Israel`s left-wing has argued for years: Being in some parts of the Occupied Territories was more of a security liability than an asset.The settlements and settlers were once viewed as a security buffer against future Arab invasions, the first settlement in Gaza, Kfar Darom, was set up in 1970. After 1993, when Israel and the Palestinians reached a peace accord after the first intifada, Israel pulled out of all populated areas of Gaza, withdrawing only to settlements and military installations.

How will disengagement work? If settlers haven`t left by this Wednesday, they will begin to be forcibly removed. According to the government, anyone who refuses to evacuate could lose up to 30 percent of the compensation benefits - up to $300,000 per family. Those who are uncooperative will also have to bear a larger burden of their moving costs. Goods left behind will be put into containers and sent to a warehouse at the settlers", expense. Those, however, who willingly remove their belongs before the evacuation can have them moved to a place of the evacuees", choosing.

The number of soldiers Israel intends to deploy to carry out the plan is the country`s largest deployment since the 1973 Yom Kippur War was launched by Egypt and Syria against Israel on October 6, 1973.