The Wire

Sticking with the Middle East, the long awaited disengagement plan in the Gaza strip is also due to become a reality today. But, the 8000 Jewish settlers still pray for a miracle will occur to stop their evacuation from their hometown in Gush Katif. Thousands of non-residents supporters are inside the Jewish settlements, to protest against the withdrawal, but also to get a last glimpse of a land they might lose forever. After Israel took control over the previously Egyptian land of Gaza in 1967, the government had pushed Israeli ideologists to populate the area through huge subsidies. Since then, millions of Israeli “shekels” were spent to secure the infamous area for terror attacks and violent clashes between settlers and Palestinians. The Wire’s Hagar Cohen spoke to Yoni Ben Saadon, a resident of the Gadid settlement in the Gaza strip. He is expected to leave his house today, to allow the Palestinian community to build their own state.