IDF pulls last troops from Gaza, ending 38 years of military rule

You say that Israel looks foolish trying to convince the world that the Palestinians should be satisfied with the withdrawal from Gaza. My friend, you are the monolithic proof of the statement that terrorism pays off. The dust has not even settled on the Gaza disengagement and northern Samaria, and you are already talking about disengaging from the West Bank, 'Palestinian territory' as you call it, though we both know it was never part of any Palestinian nation. Thankfully, there are more trustworthy, courageous people making the big decisions rather than yourself. Your statements are just laughable.

29For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. NIV Now that Gaza is in the hands of the PA and Palestinians, what will become of it? Prior to the disengagement, the PA and the palestinians did not have their house in order. Is it possible to for then to bear fruit in Gaza? Time will tell.

So what does one say to a neighbor who has just stopped beating-up a neighbor? Congratulations? Please Stanley ignore all the bombings and the murderings they have committed, the acts of voilence and death. The BOMBING of Bat Mitvahs and the targetting of schools. Ignore all that and just side with the Palistians.

Next Year in Jerusalem

Jon, You and me both...I have never operated in Gaza before, but I fear the next call up may result in me going there..

So.... It looks like the "Palestinians" wanted to return home to Egypt and were shot at by the Egyptian army and told that they must remain "Palestinian" for a bit longer.

As soon as Israel withdrew its troops, Palestinians fired rockets at Israel across the border and burned down holy places left standing by Israel. The preservation of holy sites is as fundamental to Islam as it is to Judaism and the rest of the free world. These Palestinians have shown us on day one that they are a people not bound by any law or religion and instead are a lawless group of terrorists. I pray that the Palestinian Authority will wake up, grow up and start acting like it deserves to be treated as a sovereign entity.

After reading the most recent article outlining the IDF's final pullout from Gaza and the ensuing bedlam on the part of the Palestinians, I am left asking two questions- one- will this initial upsurge by jubilant Palestinians and of the various factions and subgroups be translated into continued chaos and anarchy or can it be harnessed and molded by the Palestinian Authority into positive and constructive action-ie building infrastructure, establishing order etc? I myself remain a skeptic, and have no hopes that the Palestinian Authority will be able to achieve their goal of establishing order in the Strip, at least in the near future. My second question- now that there is absolutely no Israeli presence in the Strip, will there be any political developments between the PA and Israel, or will Sharon drag his heels until a guaranteed re-election victory is possible?- my point is this- if an extended period of time passes before a Sharon-Abbas meeting takes place, and a renewal of the peace process continues , a third intifada will occur.

So, israel stayed in gaza from 1967 to 1987 because of the "terror" attacks!!! just to correct you, what you refer to now as "terror" in the occupied west bank & gaza only started in the 90's and to cretisise islam and muslims as the reason of all evils, is very ****. every religon has its cerominies and red lines, including christianity and judiasim, so lets not go there please. There was no problem between muslims and jews before the creation of israel. I will have to adfmit jews were not treated as equals, but they were treated much, much better than in any non-muslim coutry world wide. The synagogs had to go.they were built illeagaly on occupied lands. they are a reminder of the evil occupation. And from our experience with israel, if we kept them standing, they will be used as an excuse for future governments. Israel should've done it, but if they didn't, the palistinains will

imagine a palestinian presence in gaza without the overwhelming israeli arms superiority imagine egypt occupying the gaza crossings while still a hostile soviet state imagine syria goading on the lunatics and terrorists while still having modern arms - as opposed to the 1970s drek they're stuck with

All this talk that palestinians should not be 'rewarded' for violence. The IRA has managed to get to the negotiating table through countless bombings; the Palmach blew up the King David Hotel. The list is long, but terrorism/freedom fighting DOES appear to yeald results. What is Israel's other option - kill all Arabs in a genocide? Maybe Arik is taking the right line.

You are not Ariel Sharon so you don`t have the right to say about his future decisions. The question is; What can You do for peace????

i dread my next call up for milluim , the arabs have no desire for calm as we see when they burn shuls and declare today gaza tomorrow jerusalem . i am not looking forward to the next big mission for the idf which looks like it will have to reconquer gaza to stop the rockets, a kassam was fired even as the troops were leaving. the only good that might come out of this rediculous pullout is maybe we will be able to anihalite the terrorists once and for all when we re enter gaza.

Israel has surrendered a huge amount of land and resourses built by the settlers (greenhouses, farmland etc etc) and all the Palestinians can do is burn the remaining synagogues and declare they will liberate the rest of Palestine?! People of Israel musnt allow them to take jerusalem or the west bank - this will cut israel in half! Israel has diengaged, now lets see the Palestinian terrorist cells diengage too!

when the Palestinians have control over their borders so they can move and trade free of Israeli control. Until then Gaza is simply a big prison.

Howdy Sal; You should realize that the head of state of a democracy can do very little unless he or she can obtain majority backing from the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government. President Bush has already stated that Israel can be expected to keep the large settlement blocks like Ariel and Ma'aleh Adumim and he certainly isn't going to "force" Israel to withdraw to the Green Line nor is any other US president. It looks like the Palestinians will eventually wind up with 100% of the Gaza Strip and about 92% of the West Bank for a state. Of course everybody is aware of the consequences: the martyrs will die uselessly on their side of the security fences because they won't be able to get through the fence. Game over.

Gaza's sand reject the zionists ,,, the Zionists should stop occupying Palestinian Land ... Be aware that the end of Israel is nearer to come

if one looks into history, this is the first time arabs in israel have their "own state" which israel created. this state will be a bone in the throat which would be very hard to remove.

The pullout from Gaza must be a first step in a long campaign to give the Palestinians back their territories and let them live with a sense of honor. If this is not done, Israel can expect another frustration on the part of the Palestinians and another Intifadah.

In the light of the violation of Jews holy places in Gaza who can expect the Israelis to maintain mosques in Israel?

if only you were right!!! But unforyunatll, your mistaken. Israelis SAY they want peace, but they refuse to pay the price for it. The only option, long term for peace is a place (one state or two states, it doesn't matter) where each inhabitant has the same rights. Not preferential rights based on thier religion.!! The VAST majority of israelis are not willing to "return" east Jerusalem, and even less are willing to establish a state with equal rights for all- Jew as well as non-jew. And there lies the problem.

MAZAL-TOV !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! course it would be better if Isreal leaves the Palestinans with control of thier own Airspace, and borders, both land and sea. But this is certainly better than the previous situation. Its too bad that the Israelis continue to try to fool the world calling this an end to occupation. But certainlly better than before. Nest step : disengage from the the west bank!!!

This is a very sad day for the world TERRORISM HAS WON The terroists have had their first major victory and it falls on September 11th Congratulations Yaser. Congratulations Osama Shame on you Sharon Now let us hide our faces in Shame that the world let this happen

Just as expected, the Palestinian mentality is revealed again...it's very simple, they want the complete destruction of Israel, not the 20 miles by 4 miles of the Gaza Strip, nor the West Bank, nor East Jerusalem. Israel's refusal to destroy the holy places, gave the go ahead for Abbas's people to vent their hatred towards everything Jewish. The gullible US had the audacity to excuse the mob action by placing the blame on Israel..saying Sharon put Abbas in an untenable situation...damned if the synagogues were destroyed, damned if they were not (catering to Arab sensitivities). The Palestinians now have a green light to use the Strip as a complete base for their (future) terrorism against Jews and Israel. All of this was predicted by the anti-disengagement forces in Israel. However, this time, all of the Strip will become a free fire zone for the IDF. Let us all pray that the Israeli military will not shirk their responsiblities to protect Jewish lives and property. The first time Kassam Rockets are fired into Israel, should be the last time. The Palestinians at the beginning of the so-called Intifada, destroyed the Tomb of Joseph and murdered a rabbi. That should have been the warning to Israel. Hopefully, Israel has learned something these past 14 years in their war for survival against the murdering Palestinian thugs.

It is obvious that Israel no matter what it does or does not do is criticized by the entire world including the United States when the State Department espoused their condemnation of Israel in not appeasing or satisfying the Moslems hatred. I am amazed by the condemnation of the so called civilized countries for the refusal by Israel to completely debase themselves and consent to a theory of destruction of places of Jewish worship which is driven by sheer hatred. Are we so dense and forgetful that the entry of Israel into areas previously inhabited by Moslems were to defend themselves, and the length of time that Israel remained there was because of an unrelenting wave after wave of terrorists activities which never ceased. I cannot accept that the civilized countries condone murder if it is directed against Jews and therefore such act of murder cannot be considered as act of terror and are acceptable without condemnation. To quote a maxim that to know what happens in the Future, is a knowledge of History. The joy and satisfaction that the current events have brought to the inhabitance of the middle east will be short lived if the Moslem world will continue their murders ways which are driven by their hatred of any ideology other then theirs existing in the lands inhabited by them. A case in point is it is forbidden by their laws for any person other then a Moslem to set foot in Mecca or be a recognized citizen in Saudi Arabia. No matter how you worship your deity, it is forbidden by all to wantonly murder others because they do not follow your religion or adhere to your ideology, so why the extreme joy that the world feels in seeing the total desecration of an edifice that was consecrated as a house of worship by a belief that is different then yours. chaim

If the Palestinians showed a true and sincere willingness to have peace, 80% of the Israelis would be on board. And the leader of Israel would reflect that majority. The problem that you willfully ignore is that 80% of the Palestinians do not want peace. In the end, Israel will withdraw as much as possible, give the Palestinians enough territory to have a state, and react mercilessly if they cross the line that all Jews agree cannot be crossed. Your silly musings do not advance the cause of peace; they just echo the broken record of those who, ignorant enough of the history of the Middle East, follow mantras rather than reasoned analysis. Wake up and grow up.

Sharon will never follow the Road map and Bush along with his quartet is the only one hoping for a Palestinian state. His hopes will not come to reality till he applies decisive force on Sharon to pull back to Pre June 6th 1967 borders. Sharon and his followers are doing everything in lust for greed of land and they are not aware about the consequences.

So what does one say to a neighbor who has just stopped beating-up a neighbor? Congratulations?

The Palestinians suffered as well as the Israelis. You cannot just tell the Palestinians that they have to "grin and bear it" while they are under occupation for 38 years. Yes, ari, the occupation began as a result of a war in 1967 that was fought to prevent surrounding enemy Arab states from pursuing a policy of annihilation (a policy openly declared in some quarters of the Arab world even today). But Israel is not a nation that comes into this with entirely clean hands, so the best thing at this point is to disengage, and disband the occupation settlements to as much a degree as is possible. If the Palestinians then still insist on continuing their goal of eliminating Israel, OK, we'll deal with that as well. Right now, Israel looks foolish trying to convince the world that the Palestinians need to be thrilled with Gaza and that's it...

This is now the time for Israel, to seatdown with the Palestinian and negotiate a peace agreement with the PA...The disengagement from Gaza is a good move but the citizens of the state of Israel need peace, enough of blood, most of the Westbank must be returned to the Palestinians in order for them to have also a country. The Geneva agreement could be the basis of such deal..but G-d forbid do not elect BIBI as prime minister. He is the worst thing that could happen to us.

Israel's retreat from Gaza and northern Samaria represents a sad chapter for Israel and the Jewish people. The perception in the Palestinian street is that violence pays. The retreat will only encourage more violence and terror.

While everyone is giddy about the pullout, it should be recalled that the IDF is merely redeploying, and the occupation of other Palestinian territories continues IN FORCE. To say that the Israelis have "ended 38 years of occupation" is a lie. There is still much for Israel to do in reversing the entire sorry settler enterprise, and if Arik Sharon is not willing (or interested) in pursuing that goal, then it's going to be painfully obvious very quickly.