Q&A: Sharon's Gaza plan

Sharon:"Nothing will stop pullout"

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Gaza disengagement plan is set to go ahead this August, with the fragile support of the country's parliament and in the face of a deeply divided Israeli public.

The withdrawal will bring some of the most significant changes on the ground in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since the initial occupation of Gaza and the West Bank in 1967.

It is also the first time Israel has removed state-sanctioned settlements since it gave the Sinai peninsula back to Egypt in 1982.

Q: What does the plan entail?

It envisages the evacuation of over 8,000 Israelis from 21 heavily-fortified settlements in the Gaza Strip, and hundreds more from four settlements in the northern West Bank.

Numerous Israeli army posts which serve to protect the Gaza settlers will also be removed - but Israel will keep control of Gaza's borders, coastline and airspace and reserves the right to re-enter the territory at will.

The estimated 1.3m Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip - who live under harsh travel restrictions - will be free to move into the evacuated zones (about one fifth of Gaza's total area) as soon as the Israelis leave.

Q: When will the withdrawal take place?

It is due to begin on 15 August. Israel said original date was put back by three weeks in order to avoid a clash with a Jewish period of mourning which ends on 14 August, called Tisha Be Av.

The evacuation of civilians in the Gaza Strip and West Bank settlements is expected to take three or four weeks, with a similar period set aside for the dismantling and evacuation of military installations.

Q: Who will evacuate the settlers?

The Israeli army has been given the task of knocking on the doors of settlers' houses and evacuating them, while thousands of Israeli policemen will be involved in other key aspects of what will be an enormous military operation.

Due to feelings of conflicting loyalties, hundreds of Israeli reserve soldiers have refused to take part in the evacuation, settler news service Arutz 7 reported.

An Israeli soldier who refused orders to help demolish settler buildings was sentenced to 56 days' jail on 28 June.

For similar reasons, Israeli policemen who live in the Gaza Strip have been excused from taking part in the physical evacuation.

The Palestinian security forces were initially excluded from contributing to the operation - a move heavily criticised by Palestinian leaders - until mid-June, when joint meetings on co-ordinating the withdrawal took place for the first time.

Q: Where will the settlers go?

Some will go to Israeli towns and kibbutzes throughout the country, others will be accommodated in new homes built in areas outside the Gaza Strip.

A sticking point in negotiations between the settler groups and the Israeli government has been the quality of these homes, with many settlers refusing to move into temporary accommodation.

A compromise solution has been reached in some cases, for example in Nitzanim, north of the Gaza Strip, where relocated settlers will live in caravans until permanent homes are built nearby.

Each relocated family can expect to receive between $200,000 to $300,000 in compensation.

Q: What happens to the houses the settlers leave behind?

Click below to see a detailed map of the Israeli disengagement plan Enlarge Map

Israel initially planned to demolish over 1,200 Israeli-built houses in the Gaza Strip.

Emotions run high on this issue, with some settlers being quoted as saying they would rather burn their homes than see Palestinians take them over.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said that the Israeli houses will be destroyed immediately after evacuation. In this case, Israel may pay the Palestinians as subcontractors in charge of clearing the debris.

Q: What are the security arrangements after the disengagement?

Palestinian forces will be in charge on the ground, but Israel will continue to control the perimeter of the Strip and Gaza airspace, as well as patrolling the Gaza coast.

Under discussion still is the military presence on the 10-km Philadelphi Route between the Gaza Strip and Egypt which some fear will become a conduit for arms smugglers.

The Israeli cabinet's resolution on the disengagement says the narrow Philadelphi Route is an "essential security requirement", and Mr Sharon has hinted - against Palestinian wishes - that Israeli soldiers will remain there if Israel is dissatisfied with increased Egyptian and Palestinian border security.

Q: Will it all go according to plan?

While most settlers are expected to accept the government's compensation package and leave peacefully, it is likely that there will be concerted attempts from others who wish to thwart the disengagement.

Anti-disengagement protests in the form of marches and road blocks have been regular occurrences in Israel since April, and larger-scale blockages are expected when the disengagement begins in earnest.

In the Strip itself, such as in the major Gush Katif settlement, settler families have been joined by hundreds of anti-disengagement activists from outside Gaza who are preparing to make a stand when the soldiers arrive.

Any protesters wishing to enter Gaza during the pullout period will, however, have to evade several circles of Israeli army and police who will surround the Gaza Strip and the settlements within it.

Away from the Gaza Strip, army officials have been quoted as saying that the northern West Bank evacuation will be even harder, as the area is not as easy to secure.

Israeli chief of staff Dan Halutz has said that Israeli soldiers will not be "sitting ducks" and will respond to any life-threatening fire, whether from Jews or Palestinians.

Any disturbance from the Palestinian side is less likely, with militant groups such as Hamas stating that it will not disturb the withdrawal.

Q: How will the disengagement's success be judged?

From the Israeli point of view, the success of Mr Sharon's plan - proposed independently of the US-sponsored peace plan known as the roadmap - will be judged by whether it causes a drop in the number of people killed in violence in the region, not just in and around Gaza, but throughout Israel.

If, however, attacks launched from Gaza on Israeli targets continue, or suspicion grows that militant groups such as Hamas or Islamic Jihad are being allowed to rearm in the Gaza Strip, the plan may be viewed as a risk that the Israeli premier should not have taken.

For Palestinians the withdrawal - even if successful - falls far short of their demands for an independent state, and even in Gaza many are gloomy about the prospects that their lives will significantly improved.

Q: What does the future hold for the Palestinians in Gaza?

Nearly two-thirds of Gaza's Arab population live below the poverty line, according to the International Labour Organisation. With the extra farm land and the removal of some restrictions placed on them because of settlements, there is some room for optimism.

A crucial factor in the development of Gaza will be its links with Palestinian territory in the West Bank, and the outside world.

According to the landmark 1993 Oslo peace deal, Israel must guarantee a "safe passage" between the two territories that is subject to Palestinian control. Two leading plans currently call for the construction of a sunken road between the two zones, and a railway.

For in the near future the population will still live under the shadow of Israeli occupation in a narrow corridor of land, even if the settlements have gone and the Israel army has pulled back to more remote positions.

Q: What impact will the disengagement have on the peace process?

The Palestinian Authority line on the disengagement is both hot and cold: it is welcomed as "the beginning of the implementation of the roadmap leading to an independent Palestinian state", but equally it is "a blueprint for Mr Sharon's vision of an emasculated Palestinian state".

The Palestinian leadership has said clearly that Israel will not be given any political concessions for removing settlements that are illegal under international law.

Israel and the US have insisted that the disengagement from Gaza will not replace progress on the US-sponsored roadmap for peace in the region.

But Israeli officials have spoken, with varying degrees of candour, about how disengagement is an opportunity tighten Israel's grip on occupied East Jerusalem and its settlements in the West Bank.

Therefore, the impact of the disengagement on the troubled peace process may be limited. If, however, the plan is successful in reducing deaths in the conflict and increasing trust between the two sides, its long-term impact could be immeasurable.

BBC Monitoring selects and translates news from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages. It is based in Caversham, UK, and has several bureaus abroad.