Israeli preparations to withdraw from Gaza
Palestine-Israel, Politics, 2/23/2005

Concerning the preparations made by the government of the Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon to withdraw from Gaza, Israeli sources said that the occupation authorities seek the possibility of reducing the time set to evacuate the settlements from 9 weeks to only five weeks. The process according to the plan starts in July.

The Israeli radio said the occupation army intends to carry out the evacuation process of Gaza settlements within four weeks and to save time to evacuate the four settlements due to be emptied from the north of the West Bank in the fifth week.

Meantime, 26 among 40 parliamentarians for the Likud party in the Israeli Knesset including the Cabinet ministers signed a petition issued on Monday demanding making a referendum for the withdrawal.

The Israeli prime minister strongly opposes the idea of making a referendum considering that it is just a waste of time. The signatories of the petition stress that the referendum will prevent division in Israel, noting that many of them support withdrawal from Gaza.

In Brussels, the British prime minister Tony Blair said, in a joint press conference with the American President George W. Bush, that he considers that there are available opportunities now to reach a settlement for the Israeli- Palestinian conflict.

Blair said that President Bush clearly defined a way to make a progress in the Middle East peace process with "a renewable firmness and determination."

Previous Stories:
  Israel releases 500 Palestinian prisoners   (2/22/2005)
  The return of Palestinian evacuees   (2/21/2005)
  Sharon's government approves officially the withdrawal plan from Gaza   (2/21/2005)

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