Report on Israeli Settlement in the Occupied Territories

The quest of Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon for a diplomatic framework to modify, if not to end, Israel's continuing rule over the occupied territories has moved into high gear.

The Bush administration's enthusiastic support for Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan, which the president described as "historic and courageous," seems at best naive.

The Gaza Strip has a complement of 20 Israeli settlements located in three main areas: in the northwest corner bordering Israel Nisanit, Dugit, and Alei Sinai; in a north-south trajectory controlling the main Gaza route--Salah al-Din Street--the isolated settlements of Netzarim, Kfar Darom, and Morag that enable the division of the strip into three sections; and settlements situated along the coast in the Katif bloc north of Rafah that serve as a physical barrier to the creation of Palestinian contiguity between Gaza City and Rafah.

The following is the text of the disengagement plan presented by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to U.S. President George W. Bush, as it appeared on April 16, 2004 in the Israeli press.

The following is the text of a letter sent by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's bureau chief, Dov Weissglas, to the U.S. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice laying out the understandings reached between Sharon and U.S. President George W. Bush during their meeting at the White House on April 14, 2004.