aug 1, 2005 - Gaza disengagement

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In August 2005, Israel unilaterally withdrew all military forces and dismantled all 21 Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip, along with four small settlements in the northern West Bank, under a plan championed by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Around 8,000 settlers were evacuated, many forcibly, in a process that deeply divided Israeli society and split Sharon's own Likud party (leading him to form the new Kadima party shortly after). The stated goal was to reduce friction with Palestinians and improve Israel's security and diplomatic position, since maintaining scattered settlements amid a dense Palestinian population had become increasingly costly to defend. In the years that followed, the vacated territory came under the control of Hamas after its 2007 takeover, and the disengagement is now widely debated as either a necessary step toward separation or a strategic miscalculation that enabled Hamas's buildup.

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