Israeli disengagement from Gaza

Israel’s 2005 withdrawal of its settlements and permanent ground forces from inside the Gaza Strip, carried out under a unilateral government plan.

Gaza Strip: A coastal territory on the eastern Mediterranean, bordered by Israel and Egypt. The territory from which Israel removed its settlements and permanent ground forces.
Ariel Sharon: Israeli military officer and politician who served as prime minister from 2001 to 2006. Sharon proposed the unilateral disengagement plan and led its implementation.
Gush Katif: A bloc of Israeli settlements in the southwestern Gaza Strip, evacuated in 2005. Its communities formed the largest cluster of settlements removed under the disengagement.
Palestinian Authority: An interim Palestinian self-government body established through the Oslo agreements. It assumed formal administrative responsibilities in Gaza after Israel’s withdrawal.
Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon: Israel’s 2000 withdrawal of its forces from southern Lebanon after an 18-year presence. Both withdrawals ended Israeli ground deployments, but the Gaza plan also evacuated Israeli civilians.
Israeli settlement: A civilian community established by Israelis in territory captured or occupied by Israel. The plan required removing all Israeli settlements inside Gaza.
Israeli disengagement plan: The Israeli government plan adopted in 2004 to withdraw settlements and permanent ground forces from Gaza and four West Bank settlements. This was the formal policy framework for the 2005 withdrawal.
Neve Dekalim: The largest Israeli settlement in Gaza before its evacuation in 2005. Its evacuation became one of the most visible episodes of the withdrawal.
Hamas: A Palestinian Islamist movement and political organization that has governed Gaza since 2007. Its electoral victory and later takeover transformed Gaza’s politics after the disengagement.
Oslo Accords: Agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization that began a process of limited Palestinian self-rule in the 1990s. Unlike the negotiated Oslo framework, the disengagement was initiated unilaterally by Israel.

Linked from 8 pages