Jens
Jr. Member
Posts: 1,526
|
 |
« on: October 26, 2004, 03:29:29 PM » |
|
Knesset votes to back Gaza plan
Israeli legislators have voted in favour of the controversial plan to withdraw Jewish settlers from Gaza.
The Knesset voted 67-45 to back Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's proposal, with seven abstentions.
Mr Sharon had to rely on the support of the main opposition Labour Party, in the face of deep divisions within his Likud party.
Thousands of protesters, including many settlers, demonstrated outside to show their opposition to the policy.
Under the proposal, Israel will withdraw all its settlers - and the troops protecting them - but it will maintain control of Gaza's borders, coastline and airspace.
Four West Bank settlements are also to be evacuated.
The BBC's Barbara Plett in Jerusalem says Mr Sharon will now have to either heal the rifts within his party or change his coalition government in order to carry out the plan.
Tuesday's move marks the first time the Israeli government has voted on the principle of removing settlers from occupied Palestinian land.
The US, who has always backed the move as beneficial for the peace plan known as the roadmap, said the plan was a step in the right direction.
In Gaza, the Israeli army has ended a two-day operation in which 17 Palestinians were killed.
The raid on the Khan Younis refugee camp wounded more than 80 and left a swathe of destruction.
Correspondents say the army stepped up incursions to try to crush Palestinian resistance before any withdrawal.
The immediate reason for the operation against the camp was said to have been to stem mortar attacks by Palestinian militants on nearby Jewish settlements.
Talk of betrayal
Religious settlers believe the whole of the West Bank and Gaza Strip was given to the Jews by God.
Talk of civil war and betrayal have followed the prime minister, who has received threats, our correspondent adds.
"When you push someone into a corner, you cannot predict what he will do," settler Aharon Tzur told Reuters news agency.
"The man who helped us... is betraying us now."
Schools in Gaza settlements were closed for the day so children could show their opposition to the proposals.
Mr Sharon was heckled on Monday as he urged the Knesset to back his plan.
He acknowledged the "pain, anger and despair" of those due to be evacuated.
But he said the evacuation would "decrease hostility" and lead Israel "forward on the path to peace with the Palestinians".
A further bill on compensation for Jewish settlers is expected to follow.
Israel has occupied the West Bank and Gaza Strip since capturing them in the 1967 war. It has settled about 400,000 Jewish citizens there, among a 3.5-million-strong Palestinian population. The settlements are considered illegal under international law, although Israel does not accept this.
|
