GAZA CITY, August 2, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – Land prices are skyrocketing in the areas adjacent to Israeli settlements due to be evacuated in mid August as part of an Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

"Prices are sky-high and still more people are either selling or buying," Yahia Zareb, a land broker, told IslamOnline.net.

He said seafront areas are much sought-after by investors pinning high hopes that tourist villages and a series of luxury hotels on the Mediterranean coast would generate millions of dollars in the years to come.

Israel is set to start evacuating all 21 Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip, one of the world's most densely populated slivers of territory, and four of 120 in the West Bank on August 17.

This has whetted the appetites of Palestinian land brokers and businessmen as the strip is expected to experience an unprecedented economic boom.

"Buying a piece of land now to sell in the future at double the price is no doubt the best of investment," said Ibrahim Moussa, another land broker.

Reporting a price hike of 40 percent, he expected prices to go higher in some areas, particularly near Netzarim settlement, in south Gaza.

"The square meter of land surrounding Netzarim jumped from seven to a mind-boggling 90 dollars after the Palestinian Authority decided to have a harbor just on the opposite site."

The prices of fertile lands are also on the upswing, with the most dramatic hike reported in Al-Mawasi area off the Gaza coast between Rafah and Khan Yunis.

"I have received a torrent of offers from brokers to buy my 1200-square-meter land in Al-Mawasi near Marage settlement," boasted Mohammad Al-Jabour.

He sold his piece of land two months ago after the donum (1,000 square meters) doubled from 20,000 to 42,000 dollars.

Abduallah Abu Rigila is hopes to make handsome money from land sale.

"I have bought 10 donums for 100,000 dollars and I expect to sell them at 300,000 dollars after the Israeli withdrawal," he said.

The land within the settlements, however, is off-limits to business moguls and investors, with the Palestinians Authority declaring any land sale null and void.

Farih Abu Madin warned earlier in the week that some title deeds had been forged and that the PA would not recognize any land sale in areas where Jewish settlements have been built.

A special court set up by the PA has ruled that only five percent of settlement space is a private property.

The 21 settlements to be evacuated, which consist of 1,200 housing units occupied by some 8,000 Jewish settlers, are built on 116.5 kilometers, nearly 32.13% of the overall space of the 362-km Gaza Strip, which has a Palestinian population of 1.3 million.

President of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nuhayan donated on July 25 100 million dollars to build a city that can accommodate 100,000 Palestinians on the remains of Israeli settlements.

A construction tycoon from the UAE offered in February to buy and redevelop the Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip after the Israeli pullout.

Palestinians welcome any withdrawal from land captured in the 1967 Middle East war, but fear the Gaza plan is a ruse to strengthen Israel's hold on the West Bank.