Last update - 00:00 05/09/2007
Evacuated Gaza settlers accept permanent relocation offer
By Nadav Shragai, Haaretz Correspondent
The council of Neveh Dekalim, the biggest settlement to be evacuated during the 2005 disengagement from the Gaza Strip, agreed Tuesday to be relocated to Nitzan, near Ashdod.
During the last two years of negotiations with the Sela Administration, which is responsible for overseeing the resettlement of former Gaza evacuees, the council refused to accept the offer until their demands were met.
The evacuees have been guaranteed a comprehensive relocation of their community, with benefits that will also apply to second-generation residents and to renters.
The agreement also includes capped land prices - $45,000-72,000 for a 130-square meter plot. The Sela Administration also committed to replacing all of the community institutions that were demolished during the disengagement, at an estimated cost of NIS 20 million.
The allocation of the plots is due to start in October, and the evacuees are expected to leave their temporary dwellings and inhabit their new houses within a year.