Jerusalem, Mar 21: Israel’s parliament repealed on Tuesday a 2005 act that led to the evacuation of four Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank during the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
Amid ongoing tensions between Israelis and the Palestinians, the move could pave the way for Israeli settlers to return to the abandoned settlements, possibly stoking more tensions.
The move was backed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right coalition government, which includes pro-settler leaders in the positions of senior cabinet ministers.
In 2005, under then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s so-called “Disengagement Plan,” Israel unilaterally withdrew its military forces from the Gaza Strip, a coastal Palestinian enclave, and dismantle four settlements in the West Bank.
The Disengagement Plan Act officially banned Israeli citizens from returning to the area.