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Gaza disengagement 2005

Israeli settlers stand outside houses after the reopening of the settlement of Ganim in the West Bank on August 13, 2026. (ILIA YEFIMOVICH/AFP)
August 13, 2026, 5:56 pm
Families move into rebuilt West Bank settlement of Ganim, 21 years after evacuation
Some two dozen prefabricated homes installed, with construction ongoing; IDF carries out demolitions of nearby Palestinian stores and blocks roads to adjacent villages
By ToI Staff and AFP
Samaria Regional Council Chairman Yossi Dagan (center), Defense Minister Israel Katz, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (second on Dagan's right) and numerous other cabinet ministers, MKs and other dignitaries cut a ribbon to celebrate the reestablishment of the Sa-Nur settlement, April 19, 2026. (Roi Hadi)
April 19, 2026, 11:48 pm
‘Killing the idea of a Palestinian state’: West Bank settlement of Sa-Nur reestablished
21 years later, Smotrich calls step ‘historic correction to sinful expulsion from northern Samaria’ under Disengagement plan; Peace Now: ‘Stupid, wicked’ move will add to IDF’s burden
By Jeremy Sharon
An inauguration ceremony for the repopulated West Bank settlement of Homesh, more than 20 years after it was evacuated in the 2005 disengagement, March 12, 2026, in a photo distributed by the Samaria Regional Council. (Roy Hadi)
March 12, 2026, 6:45 pm
Government officials mark repopulation of Homesh settlement in West Bank
More than 20 years after disengagement, Settlements Minister Orit Strock calls return of residents atonement for ‘sins’ of 2005, as Likud MK Yuli Edelstein vows ‘Homesh will be just the beginning’
By Jeremy Sharon
Settler activists stage a protest on the border with the Gaza Strip, February 5, 2026. (Courtesy of the Nachala movement)
February 6, 2026, 12:21 am
‘We’ll settle all over’: Far-right activists cross into Gaza, are caught by IDF
Civilians handed over to police for questioning; while attending rally near the border, Likud MK declares ‘Israel’s rebirth will come… when Jewish communities thrive in Gaza’
By Emanuel Fabian
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the plenum hall of the Knesset, December 8, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/ Flash90)
December 22, 2025, 8:27 pm
Netanyahu: Politically appointed Oct 7 inquiry must probe Oslo deal, Gaza disengagement
Ministers lend government backing to a commission of inquiry whose members could be chosen by the coalition, not the Supreme Court president, as under existing law
By Jeremy Sharon, Lazar Berman and Sam Sokol
Israeli settlers attempt to reach the site of the former Nisanit settlement in the northern Gaza Strip, July 26 2007. (Edi Israel/Flash 90)
December 12, 2025, 3:28 am
Group of ministers seeks OK for Hanukkah flag-raising ceremony at former Gaza settlement
Signatories, including from ruling Likud party, endorse pro-settlement movement’s call for defense minister to approve event in order ‘to proudly affirm that Gaza is part of Israel’
By AFP and ToI Staff
Otzma Yehudit MK Limor Son Har-Melech (C) and settler activist Daniella Weiss (R) at an encampment on the border with Gaza, October 2, 2025. (Tehilla Makler/Nachala Movement)
October 3, 2025, 1:45 pm
Right-wing activists set up sukkahs on border, seek to spend festival at Gaza settlement ruins
Far-right MK backs Nachala group’s camp 1 km from Gaza border, slams ‘dangerous Trump plan’ and calls for ‘immediate Jewish settlement’ of enclave
By Jeremy Sharon
Yossi Klein Halevi (courtesy)/ Former prime minister Ariel Sharon speaking to students on the first day of classes in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Maaleh Adumim, Sept. 1, 2004. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)
August 29, 2025, 9:12 am
Friday Focus with Yossi Klein Halevi: Worse than Disengagement is a one-state ‘dissolution’
Hartman Institute senior fellow explains how 20 years ago, after failed promises of security from the right and of peace from the left, Israelis were eager to try the center’s unilateralism
By Amanda Borschel-Dan and Yossi Klein Halevi
Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib (courtesy)/ Palestinian police set up Palestinian and Fatah flags on top of a synagogue in the former Jewish settlement of Neve Dekalim in the southern Gaza Strip, September 12, 2005. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti, File)
August 22, 2025, 9:47 am
Friday Focus with Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib: Disengagement through the eyes of a Gazan
Staunch anti-Hamas critic laments missed opportunity for a thriving independent Palestinian land that was usurped by the nihilistic mission of the terrorist entity that rules it
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Israeli right-wing activists watch the northern Gaza Strip during a rally calling for the re-establishment of Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip, near the border in southern Israel, Wednesday, July 30, 2025. (AP/Ohad Zwigenberg)
August 15, 2025, 7:05 pm
Twenty years on from Gaza withdrawal, Israel is again mired in the Strip
For Israelis evacuated in the 2005 disengagement, the war is viewed as an opportunity to undo past mistakes and return; Palestinians fear a long-term reumption of Israeli control
By Melanie Lidman
Anita Tucker (ToI) / Israeli Jewish settlers celebrate the Jewish festival of Tu Bishvat, marking the new year for trees in the Jewish settlement of Neve Dekalim in the Gush Katif block of settlements in the Gaza Strip, January 25, 2005. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
August 15, 2025, 12:02 pm
Friday Focus with Anita Tucker: A former Gush Katif resident yearns to go home
20 years ago, the Brooklyn native was forcibly pulled out of her home in Nezer Hazani, a settlement she cofounded with the blessing of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin. She tells her tale
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends a press conference at the Finance Ministry in Jerusalem on August 6, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
August 8, 2025, 9:52 pm
Smotrich thinks plan to take over Gaza City doesn’t go far enough, spokesperson says
Finance minister believes operation is a ploy to revive talks, leading him to vote against it; says he’s working to ‘erase Palestinian state’ by ‘correcting’ Disengagement
By ToI Staff
Young settlers cry and pray on the roof during the Disengagement in Neve Dekalim on August 17, 2005. (Nati Shohat/ Flash90)
August 8, 2025, 12:50 pm
Friday Focus with Micah Goodman: 20 years to Disengagement as Israel is set to occupy Gaza
The author and public intellectual takes us back in time to unravel what led the ‘father of settlements’ Ariel Sharon to pull out from Gush Katif and how this shapes Israel today
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, second left, and Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan, left, stand in a structure in the area of the former settlement of Sa-Nur in the northern West Bank, August 7, 2025. The two-word phrase, written in blue on the column on the photo's right, reads 'Death to Arabs.' (Roei Hadi/Samaria Regional Council)
August 7, 2025, 9:37 pm
Smotrich photographed next to ‘Death to Arabs’ graffiti, disavows message
Finance minister vows to undo 2005 Disengagement during tour of former settlement of Sa-Nur, marking 20 years since northern West Bank community was evacuated under the plan
By Sam Sokol, AFP and ToI Staff
Right-wing activists attend a rally calling for the reestablishment of Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip, near the border in southern Israel, July 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
July 31, 2025, 10:40 am
‘Ours forever’: Hundreds march from Sderot to Gaza border to demand resettlement
March by Nachala movement comes as idea of reestablishing Gaza settlements finds support in government and increasingly in the public, and officials threaten to annex parts of Strip
By Jeremy Sharon, ToI Staff and AFP
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