As the Israelis withdraw from the Gaza Strip, the process of disengagement is becoming both the cause of and cover for continued violations of Palestinian human rights by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) and settlers.
A two state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will only be achieved through an end to violence and terrorism, when the Palestinian people have a leadership acting decisively against terror and willing and able to build a practicing democracy based on tolerance and liberty, and through Israel’s readiness to do what is necessary for a democratic Palestinian state to be established, and a clear, unambiguous acceptance by both parties of the goal of a negotiated settlement as described below.
Prime Minister Sharon and Defense Minister Mofaz authorized the army to demolish hundreds of Palestinian houses at Rafah, on the Gaza Strip’s border with Egypt, so as to create a “sterile” zone hundreds of meters wide.
As the situation in Rafah and elsewhere in the Gaza Strip further deteriorates, local and international human rights organisations deplore the inaction of the international community.