Mofaz to recommend settlers' homes be handed over to PA

[Colorado Blue]

From the Jerusalem Post,

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1112840337303

"Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz recommended on Thursday handing over the homes of settlers evacuated from the Gaza Strip to the Palestinians once the process has been completed. In a meeting with security and defense establishment officials and representatives of the Environment and Justice ministries to discuss preparations for the evacuation from the Gaza Strip, Mofaz said he intended to raise the issues in the next Cabinet meeting and hoped that the ministers would support his decision.

Rather than demolish the settlers' homes, he advised that they be handed over to the Palestinians after the IDF pulls out of the area when the evacuation is completed. Before they are handed over, soldiers would be responsible for removing the mezzuzot on the doorways of all the houses, he added.

snip

"If the police and border police are confronted with harsh resistance, the army will also be involved," he said. "We are prepared for all possible scenarios including severe resistance and the possibility that the settlers will refuse to cooperate," he added. The army has estimated that most of the buildings in the settlements would be inhabited when the evacuation begins and that settlers in some areas may try to barricade themselves inside the houses, he said.

The officer added that a decision on the sequence of which settlements would be evacuated first and those following has yet to be made. Soldiers would also form a physical barrier between the settlements being evacuated and areas where terrorists might take advantage of the situation and launch attacks, he said. Special units would also be deployed and prepared to enter deep into Palestinian controlled areas if violence breaks out, he said. Throughout the entire process, Israeli officials would coordinate the process with Palestinian Authority officials, he said. The army would maintain overall control of the settlements during the evacuation and secure the access roads to them, he said. In accordance with a government decision regarding when the area leading to the Gaza Strip will be secured, security forces would be on hand to prevent outsiders reaching the settlements."

[Coastie for Truth]

1. This has always been the Policy of Peace Now

Along with leaving the physical infrastructure (phone wire, electric wire, water, sewage, etc.) intact.

[Colorado Blue]

2. I hope this goes smoothly - this is such a hopeful time, and

so fragile.