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I'm Steve Ember with IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.
Gaza is a small area on the Mediterranean coast. It is long but narrow.
Israel captured the Gaza Strip from Egypt in the nineteen sixty-seven war.
It also captured the West Bank from Jordan. The war lasted six days. It
began when Arab countries attacked Israel.
More than one million Palestinians live in Gaza. So do around eight
thousand five hundred Jewish settlers. Next week, the Israeli government
wants them to leave their twenty-one settlements.
Thousands of Israeli troops and police will help the settlers move out.
After Wednesday, the troops will use force to remove any who stay.
Soldiers will destroy all of the houses. The Palestinians want to build
their own.
However, on Friday, an Israeli economic cooperation group announced a
deal. Officials say the settlers agreed to sell most of the structures in
which they grew plants on their farms. American special representative
James Wolfensohn collected about fourteen million dollars to buy the
greenhouses for the
Palestinians. He is the former president of the World Bank.
Conservative and religious political parties in Israel oppose the
withdrawal from Gaza. Opponents say Israel will not be any safer from
attacks. Earlier this month, Benjamin Netanyahu resigned as finance
minister in protest. Opponents say the land is part of what they call
Greater Israel. They say God promised it to the Jews. Yet public opinion
research shows that sixty percent of the people in Israel support the
withdrawal.
Under the plan, the Palestinian National Authority led by Mahmoud Abbas
will govern the territory. A special force trained by Egypt is to keep
order. Officials say the biggest change will be the end to the travel
restrictions in occupied Gaza. But Israel will continue to control the
border, coast and air space.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced the withdrawal plan in December
of two thousand three. He said it would strengthen Israeli security, ease
the responsibilities of the Israeli Defense Forces and reduce tensions
with the Palestinians. But Israelis says real peace negotiations can begin
only when Palestinian officials disarm groups like Hamas and Islamic
Jihad.
Palestinians hope for an independent nation with Jerusalem as the
capital. Yet many see the Gaza withdrawal only as a way for Israel to
increase control of the West Bank. The West Bank has two hundred forty
thousand Israeli settlers and more than two million Arabs.
Four small settlements in the West Bank are to be removed under the
withdrawal plan. Prime Minister Sharon says the major ones will stay. But
he suggested in comments reported Friday that more settlers could leave in
the future.
In Gaza City on Friday, Palestinian officials held a big celebration of
the withdrawal just days away.
IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English was written by Nancy Steinbach. Our
reports are on the Web at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve
Ember. | 
