Jewish settlements gobble up 40,000 donums or 11 percent of the 365km-long Gaza Strip

By Moatesem Al-Meniawi, IOL Correspondent

GAZA CITY, June 22 (IslamOnline.net) – Life will be a bed of roses, economy will pick up, grass will be green and children will play again when the Israeli occupation forces withdraw from Gaza Strip and evacuate Jewish settlements, several Gazans said, keeping their fingers crossed.

With a potential Israeli pullout from the Gaza Strip making the news day in and day out, Gazans are, no doubt, over the moon.

"Once the Netzarim settlement is evacuated, life will be prosperous and economy will flourish," Ma’mon Al-Helw, who lives near the Jewish settlement, told IslamOnline.net.

He has one or two businesses in mind, which he hopes would see the light after the Israeli withdrawal.

"After the evacuation, we will cultivate our freed, fertile and picturesque lands."

After sacking  two ministers of the far-right National Union who were opposed to his plan, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon got a conditional cabinet approval of his disengagement plan.

The modified version essentially calls for phased evacuation of all 7,500 Jewish settlers in the Gaza Strip, but requires Cabinet voting before such a decision could be implemented.

Sigh Of Relief

Badawi Attiya Al-Sabah received the reports of the planned Israeli withdrawal with a sigh of relief.

"Needless to say that we will live in peace and lead a new lease of life. Our children would enjoy playing on the streets away from the trigger-happy Israeli soldiers," said Sabah , who lives near the Jewish settlement of Nisanit.

He said the Israeli army's withdrawal will make up for the years of destruction and deprivation suffered by his family.

"I will buy as much as I can from lands and cultivate them to guarantee a better future for my children," said Sabah in a euphoric tone.

Raed Miaraj, who lives next to the settlement of Rafah Yam in southern Gaza , said Gaza will be God’s paradise on the earth after the Israeli pullout.

He said he will help reclaim and cultivate some 1500 donums of land (one dounm is equivalent to 1000 square meters).

"Surely, we will be better off [without the Israeli occupation]. We will then breathe freely," Miaraj added.

The Jewish settlements gobble up 40,000 donums or 11 percent of the 365km-long Gaza Strip.

Family Reunion

Khitam Al-Meniawi, who lives west of Netzarim, looks forward to seeing her relatives and enjoying the family warmth.

"The first thing I will do after the Israeli withdrawal, God Willing, is throwing a family party to bring together my relatives whom I have not seen for more than three years," she said enthusiastically.

She hoped that the Palestinians would live happily ever after and have their tears dried after they lost loved ones to the barbaric Israeli raids.

Israel has recently launched a string of sweeping raids into the Gaza Strip with the southern city of Rafah and its refugee camp being the scene of the bloodiest onslaught.

The offensive claimed the lives of up to 62 Palestinians, flattened 155 homes and drove some 2000 residents homeless.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) launched last month a multi-million dollar fundraising campaign to help hundreds of families made homeless by the Israeli aggression.

It estimated that from 18 May through 24 a total of 167 buildings  in the Tel Sultan, Brazil and Salam quarters of Rafah were destroyed or rendered uninhabitable. These buildings housed 379 families or 2,066 individuals.

The international human rights watchdog, Amnesty International, had dismissed the Israeli operations as "war crimes".