Egypt, the Palestinians and Israel brace themselves for the evacuation of illegal settlements in Gaza, writes Serene Assir Following months of international pressure and intra-Israeli negotiations, tension and coaxing, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan for the evacuation of illegal settlements in Gaza was approved by the Knesset on Sunday. With "disengagement" set to take place over four stages and to be completed by July -- if all goes according to Sharon's plan -- the question of how security in Gaza will be guaranteed has become crucial. Since the outbreak of the second Intifada, high on the agendas of both the Palestinians and Israelis has been the question of how to guarantee security in Gaza after Israel pulls out. For the Israelis, the main worry has come in the form of attacks on settlements and border checkpoints, launched by Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades. For the Palestinians, the near-daily incursions into Gaza over the past four years, particularly on the camps bordering the city, in addition to the general policy of collective punishment in the form of random imprisonment, imposing strict entry and exit control on the borders, and preventing economic and humanitarian development have meant that many Gazans are now full of hope as the withdrawal nears. But the past four years have also taken a dramatic toll on the Palestinian security apparatus, to the extent that it was, until the recent drive to restructure it, almost non-existent. If and when the disengagement plan becomes effective, the Palestinian Authority (PA) will have to secure a means to guarantee the safety of Gazans from future attacks or general infringements on human rights if it does not want to lose legitimacy on the ground and face the consequences. On the other hand it will also need to ensure that resistance groups such as Hamas do not break the de facto ceasefire signed in Sharm El-Sheikh on 8 February. Over the past few months Egypt has been deeply involved in negotiations and preparations with the Israeli government, the PA and various Palestinian factions in Gaza's post-pullout security. Ahead of the planned withdrawal, much has already been determined. To start with, and in contravention of one of the key clauses in the 1979 Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty, the redeployment of 750 Egyptian border troops along the Philadelphia Pass was ratified by a treaty signed earlier this month, thus reversing the initial Israeli plan to retain sole control over the Gazan border with Egypt along with the rest of the crossings. Negotiations are currently under way to deploy more troops as the Israeli withdrawal date approaches. On the Gazan side there has been talk among PA government officials that the Rafah border crossing will ultimately come under Palestinian control, but no agreement has so far been reached to suggest that entry and exit into and out of the area will be controlled by anyone but the Israelis. Meanwhile, ostensibly in order to minimise the risk of arms smuggling from Egypt into Gaza, the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) have intensified the systematic destruction of homes along the Palestinian-Egyptian border, raising the total number of razed Palestinian homes since 2000 to 9,000. Thus the uninhabited area between Gaza and Egypt has grown considerably in size, adding to speculation that an Israeli-planned five kilometre-wide "trench" in southern Gaza will in fact be dug, and that the inhabitants of the occupied territory will not actually gain their freedom of movement from the planned evacuation. In a bid to improve the PA's security apparatus, Egyptians have already started to train Palestinian police on Egyptian soil. Initially the plan was to send Egyptian troops to the occupied Palestinian territories to train police but the incursions and the constant danger that they pose forced Cairo to receive the Palestinians in Egypt instead. In February alone, 45 policemen were sent over, the intention being for them to then return and pass on the skills they have picked up to their peers. On the surface, the plan seems to work to the Palestinians' advantage, particularly as there are only informal arrangements in place at the moment, mostly backed by the resistance factions, to try and guarantee the physical safety of Gaza and its inhabitants. "We welcome the Egyptian government's help," Moushir Al-Masri, Hamas's official spokesman in Gaza told Al-Ahram Weekly. "The Egyptians are our brothers. We can only gain by learning from them. Don't forget, they have so much more experience than our own forces in maintaining security." But the very dynamic of relations between Israel, the PA and Egypt, alongside the progress made so far in the restructuring of the Palestinian security apparatus, raises the issue of whether Egyptian involvement in guaranteeing Israel's security is deeper than improving the lot of the Gazan population. The main function of a rehabilitated and Egyptian-trained security force will effectively be to maintain the peace in Gaza, deal with internal disturbances and most of all seek to prolong and keep in place the ceasefire announced in Sharm El-Sheikh. Meanwhile, the recently elected government of President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) has sought to integrate the various factions engaged in the armed struggle against the IOF in the new forces. "If such integration will mean that our young men will gain respectable employment," Abu Mohamed of the Fatah- affiliated Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades told the Weekly, "then we welcome the recruitment initiative." In Gaza, unemployment is still soaring at over 60 per cent. "If, however, the plan is to cut down our efforts in the armed struggle, then no president, even the Fatah president, will be able to challenge us." Aware of potential fissures, Egyptian officials have, particularly around the time of Sharm El-Sheikh, sought to involve the factions in preparing the ground for the planned withdrawal, and to gain their support. Government envoys to the Gaza Strip and the West Bank have spoken with factional leaders. On the other hand, Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders, including Damascus-based Hamas head Khaled Meshaal, have held a series of meetings with Egyptian officials in Cairo, including with General Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman, who is also in regular contact with Sharon. But for now, while the truce remains in theory functional, the IOF have killed three in the West Bank since the summit in Egypt was held. Hamas and the other factions have not, for the moment at least, responded in kind. "Egypt will have to be very careful with how far it goes with its security cooperation," Khaled Al-Buch, Islamic Jihad leader in Gaza, told the Weekly. "While we welcome their assistance, if the security forces turn into a means to control the armed struggle, then there will be a split in Gazan society, which could turn into a very dangerous political situation -- and not just for Palestine and the Israeli state. Indeed, the consequences would spread across the border, and the Egyptian regime may have to answer for the chaos among the Palestinians.
