[At a time when the PLO remains in a state of war to liberate all of Palestine, the IDF considers a proposal to convert Jewish communities into PLO army bases – db]

Settlements in northern Samaria that are to be evacuated would become camps for the Palestinian police, according to a proposal the IDF considered recently in light of the dilemma of what to do with the settlers’ homes.

The question of what to do with the buildings in the settlements of northern Samaria has given rise to a great deal of deliberation. Unlike the settlements in the Gaza Strip about which it has been decided that they will be handed over to the Palestinians intact after Israel withdraws fully from Gaza, northern Samaria will remain under Israel’s security responsibility even after evacuation.

On the one hand, Israel is not interested in destroying the many buildings on the settlements, something that would cause Israel a great deal of public-relations damage in the world media. On the other hand, it is also not interested in letting the Palestinians move into the evacuated villas and forming their own communities.

Because of this dilemma, the possibility was raised for the buildings on the settlements to be evacuated in northern Samaria-Ganim, Kadim, Homesh and Sa-Nur-to be handed over to the Palestinians and not destroyed, but only on condition that the Palestinians promise to use them as camps for police and not establish their own communities there. According to this plan, the Palestinian police would be able to live in the settlers’ villas, but without their families.

Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who have not yet made an official decision on what to do with the homes in northern Samaria, will consider the IDF’s proposal. Incidentally, even if Israel should decide finally on this, it is not yet clear whether the Palestinians will want to turn the settlements into camps.

Another option is that not all the settlements be handed over to the Palestinians. In such a case they would not be destroyed and the buildings could become ghost towns, which would lead to attempts by settlers to “reconquer” them. Therefore, the IDF would have to post a heavy guard there for a long time, and the IDF is not at all interested in doing that.

Uri Binder adds: Meanwhile, residents of Pe’at Sadeh in Gush Katif ignored the approaching disengagement last weekend, planting thousands of melon seedlings that will be harvested in the summer. “I am planting 18,000 seedlings to parallel the planned disengagement in the middle of the summer,” said Shai Hamo, who also explained the timing. “As we see here, the government is not prepared to absorb a stream of refugees. The country is not ready for disengagement, and therefore they are making noises about postponing it. The disengagement will not be carried out at the planned time, and I am convinced that I will be able to harvest these melons. I will send a box to the prime minister since we will begin harvesting in July, and the harvest will continue for three months.”

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