GAZA DISENGAGEMENT INTENDED TO FREEZE PEACE PROCESS: 
According to an October, 2004 Ha'aretz Daily interview with Dov Weisglass, senior 
advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, "the significance of the disengagement plan 
is the freezing of the peace process…. 

Effectively, this whole package called the Palestinian state, with 
all that it entails, has been removed indefinitely from our agenda 

….All with a presidential blessing and the ratification of both 

houses of Congress."1.

GAZA WILL STILL BE OCCUPIED: 
Israel has not yet agreed to allow 

Palestinians to control Gaza's border with Egypt, to allow movement 

of goods and people between Gaza and the West Bank, or to allow 

Palestinians to control Gaza's air and sea space. Unless this 

control is ceded to Palestinians, multiple sources (including the 

International Committee of the Red Cross, Human Rights Watch, 

B'Tselem and Hamoked and departments of the Israeli government) 

concur that Gaza will still be under Israeli military occupation. 2

ISRAEL'S GAZA PLANS DO NOT MEET EVEN U.S.' MINIMUM EXPECTATIONS: 

Israel's plan to "disengage" from the Gaza Strip does not meet even 

the minimum expectations articulated by the United States. Secretary 

of State Condoleezza Rice stated, "when the Israelis withdraw from 

Gaza it cannot be sealed or [an] isolated area, with the Palestinian 

people closed in after that withdrawal. We are committed to 

connectivity between Gaza and the West Bank, and we are committed to 

openness and freedom of movement for the Palestinian people." 3

ISRAEL ASKS U.S. FOR ADDITIONAL $2.2 BILLION FOR DISENGAGEMENT: 
On top of the $3 billion in aid that the US government gives annually 

to Israel, the Israeli government is asking for an additional $2.2 

billion over three years to help pay for the Gaza Disengagement. two 

thirds of that amount may be used to develop the Galilee and the 

Negev for relocated Jewish settlers, further dislocating Israel's 

Palestinian citizens living in those regions (Washington Post). 4

ALL ISRAELI SETTLEMENTS VIOLATE INTERNATIONAL LAW: 
All Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East 

Jerusalem, are considered violations of international law, 

specifically the Fourth Geneva Convention, according to Amnesty 

International, Human Rights Watch, B'Tselem (Israeli), the 

International Court of Justice, the United Nations and almost all 

governments in the world. Though Israel deceptively labels some 

settlements "legal" and others "illegal outposts," all Israeli 

settlements and outposts are illegal under international law. 5

420,000 ILLEGAL ISRAELI SETTLERS REMAIN IN WEST BANK: 
Only 9,000 

Israeli settlers are being withdrawn from illegal Israeli 

settlements in the Gaza Strip and from four illegal settlements in 

the West Bank. Approximately 420,000 Israeli settlers remain in 

illegal settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem (The 

New York Times and multiple sources). 6

RAPID WEST BANK SETTLEMENT EXPANSION AND WALL CONSTRUCTION CONTINUES: 
The expansion of illegal Israeli settlements throughout 

the West Bank continues at a rapid pace, particularly in areas that 

Israel plans to annex on the west side of the Wall and in the four 

major settlement blocks (multiple sources). During the period that 

Israel has been talking about destroying 2,000 settler homes in the 

Gaza Strip, it has been building more than 6,400 settler homes in 

the occupied West Bank (Ali Abunimah on Democracy Now) 7. Continued 

construction of Israel's Wall on Palestinian land is annexing 

Palestinian land to Israel in Bil'in and tens of other West Bank 

villages. 

ISRAELI SETTLEMENTS TAKE STRATEGIC LAND: 
In Gaza and the West Bank, 

Israeli settlements are typically built in water rich, strategic 

locations that facilitate Israeli control of resources and land, and 

divide up Palestinian territory into discontinuous areas (Israeli 

Committee Against House Demolitions). 8

ISRAELI SETTLERS KILLED EIGHT PALESTINIANS IN LAST TWO WEEKS: 
Two Israeli settlers shot and killed eight Palestinians with no 

provocation during the last two weeks. Despite these murders by 

Israelis, and a lack of Palestinian violence, the international 

media has continued to focus primarily on the possibility 

of "Palestinian violence" during the disengagement.

ISRAEL UPROOTED 800,000 PALESTINIANS FROM THEIR HOMES IN 1948 AND 1967: 
Israel and the international media are dramatizing the 

evacuation of 9,000 Israelis from illegal settlements in Gaza where 

they have lived for no more than thirty years. Israel forced 737,000 

Palestinians to flee their ancestral homes in Palestine in 1948, and 

an additional 69,000 Palestinians to feel their homes in 1967. The 

Israeli government continues to fail to take responsibility for this 

massive dispossession, and to grant Palestinian refugees their right 

of return as guaranteed by international law (Al Awda). 9

FACTS SPECIFIC TO GAZA

ISRAEL CONTROLS ONE THIRD OF GAZA: Approximately 9,000 settlers and 

the Israeli military have controlled 33 percent of the tiny, 

overcrowded Gaza Strip, while 1.3 million Palestinians, most of them 

refugees or offspring of refugees, were packed into the remaining 67 

percent of the Gaza Strip (The New York Times, 8/18/2005). 10

ISRAEL IMPOVERISHED GAZA: Each square mile of Palestinian land in 

Gaza holds, on average, about 14,000 Palestinians. Unemployment 

among Palestinians is estimated at 45 percent, and most Gaza 

families live on less than $2 a day (The New York Times, 8/18/2005). 

11 Because of its past policies, Israel is responsible for the 

current situation in Gaza (One Big Prison: B'Tselem and Hamoked). 12

ISRAELI SETTLERS RECEIVE HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS IN COMPENSATION: 
During the disengagement, each Israeli settler family 

was eligible for compensation of $300,000 to $500,000 from the 

Israeli government for leaving homes on illegal settlements in the 

West Bank or Gaza Strip (Christian Science Monitor 8/12/2005 and 

multiple sources). 13

ISRAELI SETTLERS HAVE RECEIVED YEARS OF GOVERNMENT SUBSIDIES: 

Israeli settlers benefit from multiple government subsidies for 

rent, water, electricity, agriculture, etc. (B'Tselem). 14

HOMES OF 30,000 PALESTINIANS IN GAZA DEMOLISHED BY ISRAEL WITH NO COMPENSATION:
 While only 9,000 settlers will leave their homes in 

Gaza and four settlements in the West Bank, the Israeli army 

destroyed the homes of 30,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip alone 

over the last four years, many of them in refugee camps, many 

bordering on Israeli settlements. Palestinians receive no 

compensation from the Israeli government for demolished homes. 

(Danny Rubinstein in Ha'aretz Daily). 15

WHILE ISRAELIS GET TIME TO PACK, PALESTINIANS ARE FORCED TO LEAVE HOMES WITH 15 MINUTES NOTICE: 
Special Israeli army units helped 

Israeli settlers in Gaza to pack up their belongings as they left 

their homes. The Israeli army typically gives Palestinians a maximum 

of fifteen minutes warning to pack their belongings and leave their 

homes before demolishing their homes.

ISRAELI SETTLERS EXPLOITED GAZA LABORERS: 
Israeli settlers paid 

trapped Palestinian refugees from Gaza one third of Israel's minimum 

wage to work as agricultural laborers. Israeli settlers paid 

Palestinian laborers no compensation upon terminating their 

employment due to the disengagement (Amira Hass in Ha'aretz Daily). 16

NONVIOLENCE FOR ISRAELI LAWBREAKERS, VIOLENCE FOR PALESTINIAN CIVILIANS: 
The Israeli army used no weapons to evacuate protesting 

Israeli settlers, who live on Palestinian land in violation of 

international law, and who continue to terrorize and kill 

Palestinians. 17 The Israeli army regularly uses violence and 

excessive force against Palestinian civilians going about their 

daily lives and Palestinian nonviolent protesters (B'Tselem, Human 

Rights Watch and Amnesty International). 18

PALESTINIANS UNDER CURFEW AND MORE SETTLER ATTACKS IN GAZA: 
Israel has imposed curfews on Palestinians in a number of communities in 

Gaza bordering the settlements during the settler evacuation. 

Meanwhile, Israeli settlers in Gaza continued attacks on Palestinian 

civilians even as the Israeli military was evacuating them 

(Aljazeera.net). 19

ENDNOTES

1. The Big Freeze, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=H5929

2. 'Disengagement' Will Change Little for Gaza; 

http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/11/02/isrlpa9587.htm

B'Tselem, and Hamoked; One Big Prison, pg. 84; 

http://www.btselem.org 

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0816-25.htm

3. U.S. State Department: Remarks Following Meeting With President 

Mahmoud Abbas,
 http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2005/49973.htm

4. Israel to Seek $2.2 Billion From U.S. for Gaza Pullout, 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/12/AR2005071200099.html
5. LEGAL CONSEQUENCES OF THE CONSTRUCTION OF A WALL IN THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
 http://www.icj-cij.org/icjwww/idocket/imwp/imwpframe.htm

Israel: Bush Should Lay Down the Law on Settlements, 

http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/04/11/isrlpa10462.htm,;

Israel/Occupied Territories Removing unlawful Israeli settlements in 

the Occupied Territories: Time to act, 

http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGMDE150212005?open&of==ENG-

ISR,; Land Expropriation & Settlements, 

http://www.btselem.org/English/Settlements/

6. Israeli Forces Encircle Outposts Defying Order to Leave Gaza, 

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/15/international/middleeast/15cnd-

gaza.html?

pagewanted==2&ei=P94&en=Cc810b91369a360&hp&ex=24164800&adxnnl==1&pa

rtner==homepage&adxnnlx=24150467-sW6nG4gCkulxHFX4lvMITg

7. Israeli Settlers Resist Gaza Pullout, Palestinians Call for 

Withdrawal from West Bank, http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?

sid=/08/15/143257

8. THE KEY TO PEACE: DISMANTLING THE MATRIX OF CONTROL, 

http://www.icahd.org/eng/articles.asp?menu==6&submenu==3

9. FAQs on Refugees, http://www.al-awda.org/faqsonrefugees/

10. Gaza Reality Check, 

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/18/opinion/18thur1.html

11. Gaza Reality Check, 

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/18/opinion/18thur1.html

12. One Big Prison, 

http://www.btselem.org/English/Publications/Summaries/200503_Gaza_Pri

son.asp

13. Giving Up Gaza, http://www.alternet.org/story/24029/

14. Encouragement of migration to the settlements, 

http://www.btselem.org/english/Settlements/Migration.asp

15. The Other Uprooting, 

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/612524.html

16. No Compensation, http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?

SectionID=7&ItemID=…06

17. Amnesty International condemns killing of Palestinians by 

Israeli settler, calls for urgent measures to end settlers' 

impunity, http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGMDE150462005?

open&of==ENG-ISR; Israeli authorities must put an immediate end to 

settler violence, 

http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGMDE150272005?open&of==ENG-ISR

18. Failure to Probe Civilian Casualties Fuels Impunity, 

http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/06/22/isrlpa11148.htm; 
Beatings & Abuse, http://www.btselem.org/English/Beating_and_Abuse/; 
Excessive use of force,
 http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGMDE150952004?open&of==ENG-ISR

19. Palestinians under withdrawal curfew, 

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article4104.shtml; 
Settler Attacks Escalate, http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article4107.shtml