Homes of Israeli Settlers Pose a New Set of Anxieties
By GREG MYRE
Published: January 23, 2005
RAFAH, Gaza Strip, Jan. 18 - In this much-battered border town, Ibrahim Abu Shatat has seen two homes flattened by Israeli military bulldozers, and for the past year, his family of 10 has lived in a storage room at Rafah's soccer stadium. Just a couple of miles away, several thousand Jewish settlers live in compact but comfortable middle-class houses set among sand dunes near the Mediterranean beachfront.
But this summer, the Israeli government intends to clear out every last settler, and that pullout could set off a frantic land rush by impoverished Palestinians, with abandoned Jewish homes going to those with the fastest feet or the biggest guns.
"Anything could happen," said Mr. Shatat, 45, a Palestinian with a wife and eight children. "We need a home, and there are many others like us who are also very desperate."
The Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority both say they want to avoid a chaotic transfer when Israel leaves Gaza. And for different reasons, both sides appear to be supporting, or at least seriously considering, a seemingly illogical response to this potential problem: tear down the settlers' houses.
For Israel, the motive is mostly psychological. Although they oppose their forced relocation, the settlers, along with many other Israelis, cannot bear the thought of Palestinians moving into the homes, with Palestinian factions like Hamas raising flags in triumph atop the buildings.
The current Israeli government plan for the Gaza evacuation says that, "in general, residential dwellings and sensitive structures, including synagogues, will not remain."
The Israelis intend to leave behind buildings that do not carry such symbolic weight, like schools, community centers, commercial buildings and agriculture facilities, while water, communications and electricity systems are also expected to remain.
Yet the Palestinian Authority may also want the settler homes razed, for its own reasons.
"The settlements are an alien body that was forced on us," said Jihad Alwazir, a Planning Ministry official who has presented the Palestinian Authority with various proposals. "The houses and the population they served simply do not suit our needs. I would like Israel to dismantle the houses and take them away."
However, other Palestinian officials are more cautious. "There are a lot of proposals under discussion, and we haven't made any final decisions," said Marwan Kanafani, a prominent legislator from Gaza.
There are about 1,600 settler homes in Gaza for about 8,600 residents, say the Gaza settlers, who are concentrated in the southwest corner of Gaza, adjacent to Rafah.
Most settlers live in single-family homes with small yards, suitable for families of five. But in Gaza, it is common for extended Palestinian families to number 20 or 30 or more. Still, the settler homes would barely make a dent in the housing needs for the 1.3 million Palestinians living in extremely cramped conditions.
"They were designed for nice middle-class families with 2.5 kids," said Mr. Alwazir. "This housing stock is not enough to cover two weeks of population growth in Gaza."
The Palestinian housing shortage is most acute in Rafah, on the border with Egypt. According to a survey last year by Human Rights Watch, a United States-based group, the Israeli military has destroyed or rendered uninhabitable some 1,500 Palestinian homes in Rafah.
Israel says it has destroyed homes used by gunmen firing on soldiers and also directed its efforts at houses that are part of a network of weapons smuggling tunnels linked to Egypt.
But Human Rights Watch and the Palestinians say Israel is seeking to carve out a buffer zone along the border and has destroyed many homes that were not linked to the violence or the smuggling.
Before the Palestinian uprising began in 2000, Mr. Shatat owned a large three-story home just 50 yards from the border crossing with Egypt.
The neighborhood was the scene of frequent battles between gunmen and Israeli troops, though Mr. Shatat insists that his home was not used by gunmen or smugglers.
The Israelis bulldozed his home along with many others in his neighborhood in 2001. The family then rented another house not far away, and it was bulldozed last January.
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