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Israel News from Jerusalem Newswire
Peace Process

Goodbye to Gaza


By Ryan Jones
September 11, 2005

Israel's cabinet voted unanimously Sunday to dissolve the military government that for 38 years ruled the formerly-Jewish inhabited parts of the Gaza Strip, and approved the final withdrawal of IDF soldiers from the area.

The vote was largely symbolic after the area was ethnically cleansed of Jewish residents last month.

?This is a very difficult day in the life of the State of Israel, on which it runs away and retreats from its [history],? Avner Shimoni, former chairman of the now-defunct Gaza Coast Regional Council, told Arutz 7.

In the biblical book of Joshua, the area now known as the Gaza Strip was deeded to the Tribe of Judah. Following King David's conquest of the area several centuries later, Gaza became a thriving center of Jewish culture, and remained so for millennia.

In 1929, British Mandate forces evacuated the ancient Jewish community of Gaza City after local Arab mobs attempted to massacre them. Already established Jewish villages such as Kfar Darom were later lost during Egypt's invasion of the newborn Israeli state in 1948.

After the 1967 Six Day War, Bible-believing Israelis joyfully returned to Gaza, pouring their blood, sweat and tears into making the desert strip bloom in obedience to God's command to settle the land.

From today, all the sacrifices and the life?s work of many will be lost to Israel ? some believe for ever.

Sunday's vote also ratified Israel's decision to relinquish control of the Gaza-Sinai border to Egypt and the Palestinian Authority. ?Palestinian? terror groups have for years smuggled weapons across that border with little or no Egyptian and PA interference. In the absence of an IDF presence, this arms flow is expected to increase.

Egyptian forces began deploying along the border Saturday, following a controversial amendment to Israel's peace treaty with Cairo.

Israeli soldiers are expected to vacate the rest of Gaza by early Monday morning, with Brig.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi, commander of IDF forces in Gaza, set to be the last Israeli to leave the strip.

Prior to that, the IDF will hold an official handover ceremony at the Gaza Division headquarters near Neve Dekalim Sunday evening at 6 PM. However, just who the handover will be made to is unclear.

The ?Palestinians? said they would not attend the ceremony because of Israel's failure to also surrender control of Gaza's air space, territorial waters and those borders it shares with sovereign Israel.

Israel insists it must retain control of those security assets due to the Palestinian Arabs' history of mass murdering the nation?s Jews.

The PA says that until its demands are met on these matters, Gaza will still be considered occupied. The international community supports this point of view.

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