The Contribution of Women to Peace and Reconciliation

orist, Abbas was no partner because he was “weak and not able to deliver
the goods”.
With Sharon’s insistence upon not negotiating with the Palestinians, and
the heavy burden of safeguarding the Israeli settlements in the Gaza
Strip, a unilateral disengagement idea emerged. By the summer of 2005,
a plan to evacuate twenty-on settlements in Gaza and four in the West
Bank took shape.
Aggressive protest actions of the settlers against Sharon’s plan were the
reaction, included blocking main roads in Israel, violence against Palestinians,
and attacks on police and soldiers. The settlers called on the soldiers
to refuse to obey the government’s orders. Any evacuation of
Jewish settlements would create a civil war in Israel, the settlers warned.
In mid-July the army closed the Gaza Strip to Israeli citizens. Between
August 15 and 24, all Gaza settlements and the four West Bank settlements
were evacuated. Violence used by the settlers against the police
and the army created anger among the Israelis towards the settlers. For
the first time, an average Israeli could witness the conduct of behaviour
of the settlers and their attitude towards law and order. Some of the
settlers’ leaders admitted that although they settled the land of Israel,
they had failed to settle into the hearts of the Israelis.
The Hamas victory in the elections of January 2006 sent Fatah, the ruling
party for forty years, into the opposition. The international community reacted
by suspending aid to the Palestinian Authority. The creation of a
new militia unit, founded by Hamas in Gaza, intensified the tension be -
tween Fatah and Hamas; fighting, killing and kidnappings became a norm.
These clashes came to a peak in July 2007, as Hamas fighters executed
Fatah officers and soldiers, captured weapons of Fatah groups, and executed
Fatah related people. Fatah fighters fled to Egypt and Israel.
The Second Lebanese War
In July 2006, Hezbollah fighters crossed the Israeli border, killing and
capturing members of an Israeli army patrol. Other soldiers got killed,
as their tank hit a mine, while searching for the captured. At the same
time, Hezbollah launched rockets on Israeli villages and towns. Israel
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