Word: gaza
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...Over Gaza The 'disengagement' battlefield viewed from an Israeli helicopter
...Photos and Graphics • Photos: Gaza on the Brink • Photos: Israel Divided • Photos: Power Struggles • Map: The Gaza Pullout...
...last six years, Dugit (the word means a small boat in Hebrew) has been home to Firouz, his wife Shontal and their four children whose ages range from 12 to 20. It is one of three settlements established in the northern part of the Gaza Strip during the 1980s. Firouz, 44, moved here simply because it evoked memories of the beautiful sand dunes of his childhood in the Israeli town of Ashdod. As a young man he had lived in several kibbutzim and in Ashdod, but it was only the years in Dugit that provided him and his family with...
...Although he moved there at the time of the Oslo accords, when peace with the Palestinians seemed closer than ever, Avi never imagined that Dugit would be evacuated. Located so close to the Israeli border, these northern Gaza settlers were sure their villages would remain in Israeli hands. "It was Yitzhak Rabin (then Defense Minister) who gave the approval to establish Dugit," says Firouz. "He promised it would never be evacuated...
...Firouz does not believe the pullout will boost Israel's security. "There'll be Palestinian gang-wars over the evacuated territory. The Israelis will then return to Gaza." Nevertheless, Firouz - the last of Dugit's settlers to leave - found a ray of sunshine in his bleak day. That morning, when the Israeli soldiers handed him his evacuation notice, they also offered to assist with the move. "They helped me dig out all the trees from my garden and plant them in my new home. Their troops, their trucks and their tractors were all at my service, awaiting my orders...