A group of intellectuals and public figures, mostly from the left, have put their names to a public call for the government to address its neglect of the settlers evacuated last year from Gaza and the northern West Bank.

The petition, signed by authors Amos Oz, David Grossman and A.B. Yehoshua, states that, "the government is authorized to evacuate territory, and even uproot communities," yet "the current neglect of the evacuees from Gush Katif [Gaza's main settlement bloc] is likely to erode the state's legitimacy should it decide to carry out a similar process in the future."

The petition, which is entitled "Resolute evacuation, sensitive rehabilitation," says that "the residents of Gush Katif and northern Samaria were evacuated from their communities for all of our sakes.

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"Despite this fact, one year and five months have passed since the evacuation, and thousands of evacuees are still neglected in temporary accommodation on caravan sites," the petition states.

"They have no firm residence, there is high unemployment, and their communities are splitting apart. Thousands of evacuees have no permanent land to cultivate."

The petitioners also warn that the situation could have an adverse effect on society.

"Have we forgotten that unemployment-struck refugee camps are ticking social bombs?" the petitioners ask.

Israel pulled more than 8,000 settlers from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank in summer 2005. The disengagement plan, devised by then prime minister Ariel Sharon, ended Israel's 38-year occupation of Gaza.