Issues Arising from the Implementation of Israel’s Disengagement from the Gaza Strip

This report is a lightly edited version of a 2005 study commissioned by the Canadian government’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) in anticipation of Israel’s disengagement from the Gaza Strip slated to take place by the end of 2005. The study addresses possible implications of the disengagement, particularly for the international community, and makes recommendations for an international response. In preparing the study, the author conducted numerous interviews with a wide range of Israeli officials, experts, and others involved in the disengagement process, many of whom were prepared to speak only without attribution. The report is valuable not only for the issues it lays out, but also for the light it sheds on the thinking of the Israeli political and security establishment concerning how to implement and present the disengagement and what is required to secure international recognition of the end to Israel’s occupation of Gaza and hence of its responsibility for the population.

Geoffrey Aronson is director of research and publications at the Foundation for Middle East Peace.